The Others: Odd Happenings
by AlcatrazOutpatient
Summary: "The only reason for being a professional writer is that you just can't help it." - Leo Rosten. A series of drabbles and oneshots about The Others Series. Varied pairings, rated may go up in the future
1. Sexuality

**The Others: Odd Happenings**

**Disclaimer:** Yu-gi-oh! Duel Monsters is owned by Kazuki Takahashi, Studio Gallop, Nihon Ad Systems, and TV Tokyo. All names were changed to the characters of this fandom in order to protect the real people involved in the following incidents.

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><p><strong>First Page: Sexuality and Relationships<strong>

"_Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."  
>- Dr. Seuss<em>

Ryou Bakura, contrary to the beliefs of thirty five percent of the student population of Domino High School, at least three of the faculty members, and (on one single occasion) Tea Gardner, is not gay. He isn't, really – and to be honest, he doesn't understand why some people would believe that he is.

He's never looked at a man and found him attractive before. On the other hand, he _has_ looked at women and found them attractive. For a larger portion of his early high school years than he will ever care to admit, Bakura practically stalked Tea. Though whether that was out of some sort of odd sexual fascination or the fact that his sister, Amane, hung out with her all the time is still up to debate.

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><p>Marik Ishtar, on the other hand, is gay for Bakura, though it is only really noticeable if you were to get <em>really<em> plastered, spin on the spot twenty times, vomit, and then squint ridiculously hard at him (and even then it might not work). This is because, as much as Marik is attracted to Bakura, it's not much more than a small soft spot. That being said, the size of his feelings for him is not to diminish their existence because they are there and they are very real.

At the same time, one must take into account Marik's feelings for Mana. The thing is, despite whatever attraction he may have for his best friend, Marik is in love with that girl. He'd rather be with Mana because, quite frankly, he just _wants to be_. They're right together and he couldn't be happier because he's finally got someone who cares.

He'd never tell Bakura, though. Not because he's scared of rejection, but because he doesn't think he's quite ready to pin the label of 'bisexual' on himself at the moment. In fact, he doesn't think that he ever will.

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><p>Mana Oscuro has been crushing on Marik from the moment they shook hands – and why wouldn't she? Marik is, for lack of a more eloquent phrase, <em>smoking hot<em> and he damn well knows it. Not only that, he's not a jerk. She used to think those two things went hand-in-hand with each other, but now not so much. Mana is completely taken by surprise when she found Marik in her dorm room doorway on Valentine's Day, attempting to stutter his way through asking her out on a date because that's another thing that she's not really used to.

Mana has crushed on other guys before, but they were so out of her league that it wasn't even funny. Most of them didn't even know of her existence. So while she is used to having feelings for boys who are really nice looking, she's not used to them _returning_ said feelings.

That doesn't stop her from saying yes to Marik, though. It also doesn't stop Mana from kissing him goodnight when he drops her back at her room and giggling when he turns as red as a cherry.

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><p>Mai Valentine has given up trying to slap an adequate label on her sexuality a very long time ago. Even though she feels attraction towards both males and females, she doesn't consider herself bisexual. She doesn't even consider herself to be a lesbian even though, according to her count, the amount of girls that she's liked definitely outweighs the boys. She simply doesn't care and doesn't see why she should care.<p>

Mai is Mai and at the end of the day, that's all that matters for her.

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><p>Coy "Strings" Burke has always known that he was gay. He never questioned it, he simply was. But when you live in a small town in Mississippi where the population is under five hundred, everyone knows everyone through some kind of familial relationship because no one <em>ever<em> leaves this god forsaken hell hole. And news travels fast in those towns because the unofficial sport is fucking gossip.

So when you listen to the 'Devil's music', shave off all your hair, and proceed to get a nose ring, people start to talk. And when you kiss a boy in the locker rooms, people don't just talk: they scream it from the rooftops.

But really, Strings isn't that into relationships, though he does like to stare at Marik when he thinks that the guy isn't looking. It tugs at his heart painfully when he hears that Marik's going out with Mana, but he moves on because this isn't the first time he's gotten rejected without _really_ getting rejected. Alister will never know the truth.

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><p>Rex Raptor and Weevil Underwood would be the most badass, epically awesome gay couple in the world if it weren't for one small problem: they're both straight. The thing is, both of them have acknowledged this fact out loud to each other on separate occasions. They know that they are practically perfect for each other, but there is no sexual attraction between the two of them. They wish that there were and sincerely mourn their lack of homosexuality because of all the things that could have been between them.<p>

That being said, if they were to find a girl, they would have to go through the difficult trial of trying to convince her that having a three-way _relationship_ – not fling – would totally be possible if she was up to it. If she says yes, it would be worth it just so that they could remain together.

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><p>Mako Tsunami doesn't really get what's the big deal about relationships. He's had his fair share of girlfriends – okay, maybe just one or two – but they were more or less out of obligation than any form of attraction. He can say that he's not gay, but he doesn't consider himself straight either. He's not bi, he's not into transsexuals, or any other type of gender identity that he can think of. Mako just can't see people that way.<p>

That being said, he doesn't dislike people. To the contrary, he loves being around other human beings. He enjoys the company of his friends and considers them to be the light of his life. At the same time, he doesn't regret his asexuality. It's who he is and he doesn't know of how to live his life any other way.

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><p>Atem is another one of those people who doesn't care about the gender of the person that she is sexually involved with, but she takes it to a completely different level. While her romantic life is and will always be centered on the beings known as Bakura, she is not apposed to taking other men and women to her bed. But those relationships (if they could even be called such) are completely loveless and nothing more than a grab for power when she has no other option – like blackmail, death treats, or political favours.<p>

Other times, though, Atem just gets _frustrated_. During those times, she shamefully calls upon one of her many Summon creatures, hoping that they will refuse her. But they know of her torment and how she has served Magic both willingly and unwillingly for centuries and let her use them as she wishes (and doesn't wish). Atem usually calls upon the more humanoid of her Summons like the Celtic Guardian and Mystical Elf and prays that Bakura never hears of her betrayal.

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><p>Maximillion Pegasus believes that he was born at least five hundred years too late. Not just because, by today's standards, he is considered to be very metrosexual, but because of his choice in women. He's not gay in any aspect – no matter what Mahad may be whispering in his mind about denial – but Pegasus like's his women young.<p>

Not jailbait, pedophiliac young, but significantly younger than him. He knows that he's not exactly the number one most wanted bachelor anymore, not when he's pushing forty five and hasn't got a single dark hair left on his head. Pegasus sees the life in them, which is something he believes that he's lost, and falls in love with it. He knows that he's not going to be around forever. Between the Orichalcos war and whichever gangster that has lost a fortune in one of his casinos this week, he doesn't think that he's going to live to see fifty. He's dying, but he doesn't want to go just yet.

He loved the look of life in her eyes. If only they hadn't closed so early. If only.

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><p>Kisara Bleu and Seto Kaiba are practically made for each other, and somewhere in her mind, Kisara actually thinks that they are. They fit together like pieces of a puzzle, personalities not only matching, but also complementing each other. She's loved Seto from the moment that he held out his hand to her despite knowing <em>exactly<em> what she was and what she was capable of. He said that he was going to change the world and Kisara knew then that she would do anything to help him do just that. She loved him and would follow him through the gates of hell if he asked her to follow him there.

Seto, on the other hand, honestly didn't know how to take her unwavering loyalty at first. He also didn't understand why Kisara's skin felt surprisingly _good_ whenever he felt it brush against him. He's never had a reaction like this to anyone before and it actually frightens him for a while. After consulting several Internet sites, library books, and his brother – "You're such a virgin, Seto." "Shut up, Mokuba." – he figures it out and starts to hyperventilate.

Once they finally get together – and it takes a while for Seto to get his ass in gear – their roles in the bedroom are a reverse of what they are in real life. While Kisara normally comes off as sub servant to him, she is the one that is in control. Seto reveals that he is not a sadist but a desperate, desperate masochist with a blood fetish (specifically, his own). And that's fine with the both of them because Kisara takes on characteristics of her Berserker form whenever she has sex, something that Seto likes a lot.

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><p>If there is one thing that can be said about Mokuba Kaiba, it is that he likes to screw with people's heads.<p>

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><p>Tea Gardner knows that she like boys, but can't help but wonder what it would be like to be with a girl. She's a bit scared to find out, to be completely honest, but she still wonders. She thinks of all the girls in her life and believes that if her first lesbian experience had to be with anyone, it would be with Amane. Tea trusts the girl, but doesn't even suggest such a thing because she knows that Amane is hiding something.<p>

And then Ryou Bakura steps into her life after years of just wandering around the edges. Tea doesn't have a crush on him, per say, but she really likes the idea of the gentleman that she's painted around him. She's never known that someone, let alone a boy, could be so _courteous_ and _nice_, even going as far as to refuse her because he knew she didn't really want to have sex with him. Tea wonders just who the hell this girl of his is because she is so damn lucky to have him.

Bakura and Amane thought that Tea was kidding at prom when she said that she'd "always wanted to try twins at the same time." She wasn't. And considering that the Bakura siblings are the only twins that she knows, well, you can fill in the blanks.

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><p>When it comes to Duke Devlin's relationship with Serenity Wheeler, it wouldn't be a surprise for most people to hear that one of them was bisexual. What would surprise most people is that Duke is <em>not<em> bi; rather it is Serenity.

Duke is straight, almost rigidly so. He is genuinely frightened by the amount of males in his fan club and runs the _fuck_ away whenever they try to ask him out on a date. He's not homophobic; he's just not into that stuff personally. He's straight and that's not going to change anytime soon, no matter how many times someone tries to bring out his inner bi-curious teenager. He doesn't have one of those, damn it!

Serenity doesn't see gender. She acknowledges sex – that males have certain parts and females have different ones, but when it comes to man and woman, she doesn't see how that counts for anything. Humans are humans at the end of the day; what they are born with doesn't mean anything compared to what they make of themselves, so why should it have any effect on whether or not she is attracted to them?

Duke sees Serenity as The One. Serenity doesn't – at least, not for a while.

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><p>Miho Nosaka was an incredibly popular girl, when she was still living in Japan. She was not only incredibly intelligent, but considered to be quite beautiful at the same time. She had a boyfriend that she'd been very close with and she cared for him very much. But when her family moved to America, she felt cut off from the rest of the world because she didn't understand the English language well enough. She felt frustrated, but put any thought of a relationship behind her.<p>

Miho liked Tristan because he was the first person that she had an actual conversation with. It was simple and completely in English, but he kept talking (however slowly) and didn't walk away. It makes her heart flutter because there was someone in this country who actually _cared_ enough to be around her.

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><p>Tristan Taylor finds it weird that he doesn't find it weird that he likes being with Joey (in a way that can only be described as <em>sober<em>). He's not freaking about being in a full on gay relationship and that is what freaks him out. Because Tristan knows that fooling around can't cover this – whatever it is – anymore. And he's surprisingly okay with that.

He's never thought of himself as gay or even bisexual. He knows that he's made out with guys before, but he was completely plastered at those points so they don't really count. But this – with Joey, Joey – was something completely different and Tristan likes it. For once, he actually feels free, like he's been trapped in a cage for all his life and he's now just managed to escape. Tristan wonders if this is how it felt to be in love with someone.

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><p>Joey Wheeler prays to God every night, hoping that he will wake up and be straight. He hates himself because his sexuality is just <em>wrong<em>. He's not human, he's less than human – he's disgusting and sinful and a fucking mistake. And he's jealous of Bakura, so insanely jealous of him. Because that _freak_ was with his our sister but he looked so fucking _happy_ so why can't Joey be happy? Why can't he just accept his feelings for Tristan even though it is obviously wrong like the freak can? He wants…Joey wants to be like him, damn it, why can't he be like him?

But he's not gay. He's not. Joey likes girls, he swears. This is…this thing with Tristan – he doesn't know what it is, but he likes it when he shouldn't. Because he's straight. He's straight – he's straight – dear god, why can't he be straight?

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><p>Amane Bakura knows the difference between attraction and love like the back of her hand. She's been attracted to guys before: flirted with them, kisses them, slept with them. But there are only two beings that she's ever been in love with. There is very little that separates the two in appearance, but Amane knows who's who. Magic is Magic and Ryou is Ryou. There is little distinction.<p>

But sometimes Amane wonders if it is a coincidence that she just happened to love those two – they who look so similar. Something tells her that there is something else going on and it comes from the looks that Magic gives her when he thinks that she isn't watching. The looks that tell her that he thinks she's going to slip right through his fingers and disappear forever. He chose her for some reason and she wants to know exactly what set him apart from every other human being on the face of the earth, past, present, and future.

"_God made our arms just long enough to embrace ourselves: go ahead, try it – nobody's watching."  
>- Tigress Luv<em>

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><p><strong>Hey guys.<strong>

**Now I know that this isn't the update that you are all hoping for, as it is neither The Second Year or Resurrection, but I promise you that I am working on them. I'm a good chunk of the way through the third chapter of The Second Year and am knee deep in research for Thief King's story. I'm trying to juggle my school work the best I can with my writing and I think I'm doing alright with it, so there's nothing that's going to stop me from posting.**

**Now, Odd Happenings is going to be a bit of a dumping ground for me for random drabbles and oneshots that stay in my mind about The Others Series and simply refuse to let go. Some will be canon (I can't believe that I have something I can call canon!), others will be 'deleted scenes', and some just might be completely AU. And some will be just a massive pile of information, like I've done here. I just figured that it would be best to just get it all out instead of letting the ideas stockpile in my mind.**

**I just want you to know that I ask myself a lot of questions about my characters and their sexualities (and sometimes, their bedroom habits in the case of Kaiba and Kisara) get kicked around a fair bit. I just felt that with what was revealed at the end of The First Year, I should basically get as many people out of the closet as I can. Just so you know, I've always pictured Mokuba as a fully functional sociopath that can imitate emotion with frighteningly realistic accuracy. He does get his kicks out of messing with people because he's a born manipulator.**

**Until next time,**

**AlcatrazOutpatient**


	2. Motherhood

**The Others: Odd Happenings**

**Disclaimer:** Yu-gi-oh! Duel Monsters is owned by Kazuki Takahashi, Studio Gallop, Nihon Ad Systems, and TV Tokyo. All names were changed to the characters of this fandom in order to protect the real people involved in the following incidents.

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><p><strong>Second Page: Motherhood<strong>

"_It kills you to see them grow up. But I guess I would kill you quicker if they didn't."  
>- Barbara Kingsolver<em>

"Get out."

Natsuki's words are final – as stone cold and rigid as her heart feels at the moment. Her hands don't tremble, her knees don't shake, and her back doesn't curve or bend in anyway.

"What?" Andrew, her husband, (though not for much longer, not if she has anything to say about it) looks like she's slapped him. Natsuki just might if he continues to stand there.

"Get out," she repeats in the same frozen voice. "Pack your bags and leave."

She's through. She's through with the lies and the deception. She through with this utter _bullshit_ that he's been spouting since _that_ day.

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><p>Natsuki remembers getting the call, late that night, telling her that there's been an accident. An explosion, the police said, in the area where Amane was going to prom with her friends. With her brother.<p>

She was told to go to hospital and wait. So she did as she was told: she went to the hospital and waited. And waited. And prayed.

Her prayers were left unanswered.

It was just after one in the morning when an officer, a heavy woman who probably spent more hours behind a deck than in a patrol car, touched her shoulder and told her that her daughter had been killed in the blast.

At first she couldn't believe it – no, she refused to believe it. Natsuki refused to believe that the small, baby girl that she'd once held, once brought into this world, was dead. She refused to believe that the young, beautiful woman who she'd last seen in an equally beautiful white dress was dead.

Amane. Sweet darling Amane. Her daughter was dead.

But there was no word on her son. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. No reports from the doctors, no reports from the police. So Natsuki clung desperately to the belief that the boy, that barely a week ago she would have thrown out of her house, was still alive.

She still hears nothing about him from anyone. No one at all. As the doctors begin releasing the students back into the arms of their parents – and Natsuki must force down a wave of intense jealousy because how lucky where they to be able to hold their own children again – she asks them, "My son. Ryou? Ryou Bakura? Is he alive in there?"

To her questions, she gets one single answer, "Who?"

No one knows him. No one knows her son's name. No one at all.

No one cared enough about him to give a damn about whether or not he lived.

And then she sees them: Amane's friends. But they've all changed from the last time that Natsuki laid eyes on them. She notices that Tristan Taylor doesn't walk amongst them and assumes the worst.

Tea spots her before any of the others do. The girl's light blue eyes widen and she expects to see a deadness to them (like all the other children that stumbled out of the emergency care ward), but is surprised to see that there isn't. There is something very alive, very aware, in Tea's eyes.

In fact, it's in all of their eyes. And it makes her stop dead in her tracks.

"Mrs. Bakura," Tea whispers and the heads of her friends turn towards Natsuki. They all stiffen in unison as she approaches.

"Mrs. Bakura, Amane she…" Serenity tries to start, but Natsuki cuts her off, unable to hear the news twice.

"I know," she says through tears. "I know what happened to Amane."

"She saved us. She knew, somehow, about the gas leak and got us out. Then she went back in to help more people," Duke tells her and she thinks that he's too young, too awkwardly tall, too bony, to be saying such words. "Amane died a hero."

But Natsuki knows that something's wrong with his words. They're too practiced, like he's been repeating them so often in the attempt to convince himself that they were true. Duke is lying about something, something concerning her daughter. She doesn't understand how to take that utter betrayal. So she cries.

When she can finally speak again, Natsuki begs for knowledge about her son, "What about Ryou? What happened to him?"

She catches a quick exchange of glances between them all, catches how Joey clutches a mysterious novel to his chest even tighter, before Tea speaks, "I don't know. He disappeared half way through the night. I haven't seen him."

Immediately, Natsuki realizes how utterly _wrong_ this situation is. No one else could put Ryou's name to his face. And she knows that none of these children were his friends in anyway for all of the years that he'd been in high school. And yet they are the only ones to be able to even identify him by name.

What is going on?

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><p>Natsuki stands in Ryou's room for the first time an hour after Amane's funeral. The first thing she notices is the utter emptiness of the small square of space. The bed is stripped of any blankets, the selves are bare, and she can't seem to find a single article of clothing <em>anywhere<em>. It's like someone cleared the place out in a hurry.

Someone who was planning on leaving and never returning.

Natsuki has heard the rumours. She knows that everyone thinks that it was Ryou who caused the explosion. The other women from her Sunday morning yoga class whisper behind her back, saying that he had been desperately in love with his own sister and that Amane had spurned his advances, the sick little boy. Those from her book club thought that he'd sacrificed his peers in a satanic ritual in hopes of bringing the Devil into the mortal world.

But none of them, not a single person, knew her son by name. He was just that boy or that kid with the hair. None of them knew him at all.

It is at this point that Natsuki realizes that she hasn't called him by name in over a year.

As she stands in the emptiness of his room, she swears that she can hear a voice whispering, "Hypocrite."

Natsuki hasn't talked to her son in so long that she doesn't know whether or not it is his voice.

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><p>She searches frantically for her son. Natsuki reports him missing to the police and asks anyone who might know anything about Ryou and his whereabouts. She'd wanted to create posters to tack up around the neighbourhood, but can't find a single picture of him that wasn't taken when he was an infant.<p>

Her hands shake when she realizes just how much she neglected her child throughout the years he'd been alive. But instead of collapsing into a puddle of guilt and remorse, this knowledge only spurs her on. She has to find him because if she doesn't, Natsuki doesn't think she'll be able to live with herself.

She has to apologize.

She realizes that saying sorry isn't going to magically make everything better when she sees Ryou again. And honestly, she doesn't want it to. She wants Ryou to rage at her, to yell and curse her for all eternity because she's a failure of a mother and that's what she deserves.

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><p>Something's wrong with Andrew. It takes Natsuki about a month to notice it, mainly because she's so engrossed in finding Ryou to notice. But it dawns on her one morning that he hasn't so much as brushed up against her since the funeral.<p>

He hasn't held her or comforted her in any way. He hasn't _touched_ her at all. At first she thinks that its guilt, that like her, he believes himself to be a failure of a father.

"We'll find him, you know," she whispers to him one night as they lay in bed. "We'll find him. For Amane."

Andrew grunts and doesn't speak for a whole minute. Then he opens his mouth and says the words that will change Natsuki's life forever.

"We'll find him, alright. And when we do, I'm gonna kill that bastard with my own hands."

Natsuki doesn't get a wink of sleep that night.

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><p>It takes her much longer to enter Amane's room. Maybe its because she knows that her daughter is dead and her son is out there, somewhere, alive, that makes it harder. She doesn't know.<p>

Natsuki discovers so much about her daughter in those hours she spends in her room nearly topples her perfect perception of her.

The first thing she finds is a box of condoms in her bedside table. Its been opened and is half empty. Her daughter had been having sex and hadn't told her. It hits her like a blow to the back of the head. Amane had been keeping secrets from her.

The next things Natsuki does it try to turn on Amane's laptop. But after her fifth attempt at getting the password right, the screen goes blank and the machine starts to spark and sizzle. She yelps and backs away, waiting for it to stop. When it does, nothing can get it to turn back on.

The final thing that shocks her to her core is a small shoebox of childhood memories that Amane kept in her closet. They're all centered on her son, around Ryou. Natsuki finds his drawings and a few fading pictures of them as children. She nearly cries when she remembers just how close the two of them used to be.

But at the very top is a recent photograph. It looks like it was taken in a nightclub of some sort (and again, there is the shock because she'd never taken her daughter to be the sort of person to go to that kind of place). Ryou has his arm around Amane's waist, his lips pressed up against her check. Natsuki spots Serenity in the background with Duke and wonders if they could shed some more light on just who her daughter really was.

What didn't surprise her was to find a few articles of Ryou's clothing in Amane's room. Natsuki doesn't know why it doesn't shock her, but she doesn't believe that it has anything to do with the whispers of women from yoga. No, she thinks the lack of shock comes from the picture from the nightclub. Its how the pair of them looks at each other in that shot – so loving and caring and beautiful together.

She thinks that, even if there was a possibility of the pair of them being together, she wouldn't mind. She wants to see them again.

But Natsuki will never see Amane again. And neither will Ryou. He's lost a sister, a twin, and possibly a lover. She just wants to hold her son in her arms.

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><p>Andrew wants her to stop searching for Ryou. He shouts and spits and yells at her, telling her that her son is a wanted criminal and is responsible for the death of almost thirty young lives and the injures of almost seventy others. Natsuki shouts back at him about how that would be impossible.<p>

She's done her research. The building's owners, in an effort to become more environmentally friends, had switched to using geothermal energy to heat the premises. There was no gas in which Ryou could have blown the place up with.

So what caused the explosion? Natsuki demands an answer from her husband because the police report never mentioned anything about this. The coppers were so focused on blaming Ryou for everything that they'd missed this utterly crucial bit of information.

Andrew, in his anger, shoves her across the room. With a single push. Her ribs crack against the wall when she hits it and she spends the rest of the week in the hospital.

If asked about it later, Natsuki would say that the hardest part of the entire thing was being back in the place where her life ended, where she first heard that her children were never coming back to her.

Some might find that odd – and some did – but even though Natsuki may have been a terrible mother, it didn't mean that she wasn't a mother at all. Her son and her daughter were all that mattered to her.

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><p>She tells him the moment she found out that he deleted Ryou's file from the missing person's database.<p>

"Get out."

Natsuki's words are final – as stone cold and rigid as her heart feels at the moment. Her hands don't tremble, her knees don't shake, and her back doesn't curve or bend in anyway.

"What?" Andrew, her husband, (though not for much longer, not if she has anything to say about it) looks like she's slapped him. Natsuki just might if he continues to stand there.

"Get out," she repeats in the same frozen voice. "Pack your bags and leave."

She's through. She's through with the lies and the deception. She through with this utter _bullshit_ that he's been spouting since _that_ day.

"This is my house," he hisses. "You have no right to kick me out of my own house!"

"Get out. Now."

She throws a bag at him and walks out of the room, leaving him to pack and leave. An hour later, she hears the front door slam.

Natsuki bursts out into tears. Not because her marriage was over – no. If anything, there were tears of happiness. Because for the first time in a very long while, she feels like she's done the right thing.

She will find her son. She will find Ryou. And no matter what happens to her, no matter what adversity she has to face, she will do it. Natsuki will tear the world apart if she must because she has something that she needs to tell him.

"My son. Ryou, my child. I'm so, so sorry. I love you."

"_When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child."  
>- Sophia Loren<em>

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><p><strong>Hello everyone!<strong>

**I'd like to thank those who reviewed for the previous chapter: InsanityByDefinition, ilovemanicures, and Aqua Girl 007.**

**Sorry that I haven't been posting a lot lately. I've just been really, really busy with school work (for some reason, exams never seem to stay in exam period) and I've barely had time to write anything that isn't essay related. And then, when I did get some free time in which to write, this came out instead of a chapter.**

**Natsuki Bakura is one of the hidden characters of The Others series. She didn't make it into a lot of The First Year and we aren't going to see her again for a very long time. She's more of a bystander that's been caught in the middle of a war zone then a fighter. Her children are incredibly important and powerful magical beings and her soon to be ex-husband (and yes, Bakura's parents will get divorced in the latter portion of The Second Year) is going to become one of the stronger Converts of the Orichalcos army. And there she is, walking in the middle of something that doesn't understand.**

**Until next time,**

**AlcatrazOutpatient**


	3. Photograph

**The Others: Odd Happenings**

**Disclaimer:** Yu-gi-oh! Duel Monsters is owned by Kazuki Takahashi, Studio Gallop, Nihon Ad Systems, and TV Tokyo. All names were changed to the characters of this fandom in order to protect the real people involved in the following incidents.

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><p><strong>Third Page: Photograph<strong>

I sat hunched over in the back of my science class, leaning over my sketchbook. I had one of the massive texts in front of me, blocking the teacher's view of what I was actually doing.

My pencil traced over the line I had already made, darkening it to my liking. I recalled her image from my mind. She was a difficult person to forget.

I dug around in the bottom of my backpack for a red pen. It wasn't the shade I was looking for, but it was the closest I was even going to get to maroon. I shaded in her eyes and the tips of her hair.

Next, I got my hands on a high lighter and yellowed her bangs and the strips of hair running down the top and sides of her head. I'd see if I could get my hands of some of Amane's old pencil crayons to shade in the rest when I returned to the house.

I vaguely heard Mr. Harrison mentioning that he would be stepping out for a few minutes, for focused on my drawing. Then the textbook I had propped up was slammed down by an angry hand.

I tried to yank my sketchbook away from Wheeler, but was that little bit slow. He cackled as he dangled it just out of my reach.

"What do we have here?" He laughed, "Whatcha drawing limey-boy?"

"Give that back, Wheeler," I growled.

The sharks were just living it up, thrashing around in hopes of another fight. Wheeler walked around in a circle, showing off his prize to his audience.

"Let's have a look!"

As I got up, he started to flick through the pages, making a comment on everything and everyone he saw in there ("Is that a guy or a girl?" "Well, this one's fucked up his face real good." "Wow, there's a girl I'd want to bang!"). I yanked the book out of his hands and pushed him away from me. The picture that I'd taken with my friends at Atlantis slipped out and onto the floor.

"Crap, is that your class picture?" Wheeler sneered with disgust, "You really are all a bunch of freaks!"

"You don't know anything about us, so shut up," I snapped at him. Who was he to speak of us? He didn't know what everyone had suffered through before coming to Atlantis. He couldn't understand.

"That's actually a guy, isn't it? You must really fit in, she-male," he was laughing, mocking all of my friends. He was pointing at Marik's image. I wanted to punch him.

"Shut the hell up, Wheeler! You don't know anything at all!"

"Hah! You're nothing, you know that!" Wheeler grinned, "You'll never amount to anything, freak. You've got no future whatsoever. Not even your pathetic school can change that.

"Now me, I've got a future. I'm going to college. I've got a scholarship. I've got a career in the making playing football. So while you're off fucking corpses like the sick freak you are, I'll be surrounded by dollar bills and bitches. I'll live in a mansion and you'll be in a pine box."

He picked up the picture and threw it back at me, confident that he'd won this little battle, "You and the rest of your fucked up friends."

Joey Wheeler was so very wrong.

I knelt down, picking up the photograph that had fallen to the floor. There were eight people in the frame, smiling brightly at the camera. We'd sat it on Rex's bed and set up for a delayed picture. The eight of us wore our t-shirts, proudly displaying the name of our school - our home.

And this bone-headed football player thought that he was great? No, he was wrong. I knew what greatest was and it wasn't Joey Wheeler.

"Do you know what Atlantis is?" I asked calmly, with no viciousness or anger. No nothing at all. I felt as emotionless as I did when I became a spirit.

"What?" Wheeler turned around, scoffing and snickering at me, "That old Greek city?"

"No, Atlantis School for the Gifted. It's where I've been going for two weeks each month," I looked up, "You've been mocking it for a while now. I just thought you'd like to know a little bit about it."

He snorted, "Whatever, loser. Fine, tell me about your freaky school."

"Atlantis is a haven for the people that this world has rejected, thrown aside because they are something that the Normal population cannot understand," I told him. "Do you know what happened to every single person in this picture? I do. Do you _want_ to know what happened to them?"

Wheeler seemed to go pale, something making him shiver. That fear of me, brought upon him by the Ward, reared up its ugly green head. He gave me no answer, so I continued on.

I held up the picture and pointed to Mana, "She's an orphan. She's never known he parents, never known a family because she's been passed from foster home to foster home like a re-gifted pair of socks. The police keep an eye on her all the time because her fellow orphans have falsely accused her of drugging them all."

"And him," I showed him Mako, telling what I'd guessed about what little he'd told me, "His father never had the time of day for him. He went out into a storm one day, purposefully, in hopes that his boat would capsize just to get away from his son."

"And then there's her," I stepped forwards and Wheeler retreated. I pointed to Mai, "Her gold-digger, black widow of a step-mother left her penniless. She had to drop out of high school when she was fifteen to get a job so that she could put food on her table."

"And lets not forget these two." my voice began to raise in anger, as I indicated to Rex and Weevil, "These two had only each other. They survived their abusive parents and classmates by learning to depend on no one but themselves."

Wheeler reached the edge of the sharks. They parted, making room for him as I stalked forward holding up that picture.

"And that's not even the worst part. These two," I pointed at Marik and Strings, "have been stabbed in the back by the people who were supposed to protect them, love them. They were tied down and forced to endure tortures that would make you sell out your own mother. They've been permanently disfigured and will have to deal with those scars for the rest of their life."

Wheeler hit the wall behind him and I kept coming forwards until I was right in his face, "And then there's me.

"I used to think I was crazy," I whispered harshly, but had no intention of hiding my voice from anyone in the class, "I used to think because I could see things that Normal people couldn't, that I was insane. I used to think that I was alone in the world after my sister - the only person who's ever given a damn about me, the only person whom I have ever loved unconditionally - left me to _rot_ in my own depression.

"Atlantis showed me that I wasn't alone. It showed me that I wasn't crazy, that I could do things that were so beyond everything I knew to be possible. It gave me the ability to look to my future and not only see something, but see something good."

I took a deep breath, "So, Wheeler, you can call me a freak. You can call me a loser. You and your buddies can go and stick notes in my locker and put my clothes in the toilet. You can curse me to hell and back and I won't care. And do you know why?"

I waited for his answer, waited for almost a whole minute. Mr. Harrison had stepped inside, but stopped short of actually resuming his lesson. He stopped in the doorway, mouth gaping like a fish.

I looked back at Wheeler. He was shaking his head, shaking in his shoes. He was scared, so scared, but wanting to know what I was going to tell him anyways.

"Because I'm Ryou Bakura. I'm Ryou Bakura and for one of those rare moments in my life, I'm proud of that fact."

And then I stepped away from him, moving back to my desk and collecting my books. I put the photograph of my friends - my family - back in my sketchbook and put that in my bag. I walked, not even bothering to look at the teacher, out the door and into the hallway.

I didn't look back.

* * *

><p><strong>Hello all!<strong>

**I'd like to thank those who reviewed for the last chapter: InsanityByDefinition and ilovemanicures.**

**So I was bored today and started looking through my folders for some of my old pieces of writing and I found this. It's a 'deleted scene' if you want to call it something. I think I wrote it sometime around chapter 14, when Keith kicks the can, but for some reason, never added it into the canon story line (I'm still astounded by the fact that I can use the word canon to describe my works).**

**Hopefully, you all like it. If I find anything else that is worth posting and not filled with spelling mistakes and plot holes, I'll stick it up here. That is, of course, why I decided to create Odd Happenings in the first place, so I might as well use it for that reason.**

**Until next time,**

**AlcatrazOutpatient**


	4. That Kid

**The Others: Odd Happenings**

**Disclaimer:** Yu-gi-oh! Duel Monsters is owned by Kazuki Takahashi, Studio Gallop, Nihon Ad Systems, and TV Tokyo. All names were changed to the characters of this fandom in order to protect the real people involved in the following incidents.

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><p><strong>Fourth Page: That Kid<strong>

No one talks to _that kid_. Not really. Occasionally, when _that kid_ passes you in the hallway of your school, your gaze shifts to them for a second – but its only just a second, nothing more.

_That kid_ doesn't register on your radar. Never has, never will. You probably won't remember _that kid_, wouldn't be able to pick them out of a crowd as someone that you graduated with. _That kid_ is not but a ghost to you, someone that you will eventually forget, blaming it on the passage of time. Why?

Because you can.

But _that kid_ will remember your name forever.

_That kid_ will remember all the times that you and your friends pushed _her-him-them_ to the ground, mocking and jeering and laughing because isn't this just so fucking funny. _That kid_ will remember all the hits, the punches, the kicks. _That kid_ will remember how it was _him-them-her_ that got in trouble for it and how you just got a slap on the wrist.

_That kid_ will remember how you forgot _them-his-her_ name, forgot that you sat next to _his-her-them_ in class, forgot every tiny little movement that _they-she-he_ made – but will remember every single one of yours.

_That kid_ will remember the times you took advantage. _That kid_ will remember the broken promises. _That kid_ will remember the lies.

_That kid_ will carry those scars forever. And they will never go away, never be forgotten.

But you will forget how you caused them.

And when the time comes, when _that kid_ finally realizes that enough is enough, that _he's-they've-she's_ had it, what will _that kid_ do to you?

Will _that kid_ return all the hits, the punches, the kicks? Will _that kid_ return the jeers and the laughing and the mocking? Will _that kid_ push you to the ground as you did to _him-her-them_?

Maybe. Or maybe not. Only _that kid_ really knows.

But you won't. Because while you know of _that kid_, you don't really know _her-him-them_. You never will because you never tried. If you'd tried, you could have done it, too.

You could have been the one to know _that kid's_ name. But you won't.

Maybe _that kid_ will snap. Maybe _that kid_ will tear into you with _their-her-his_ words, making you feel just as ugly as you've made _him-her-them_ feel. Maybe _that kid_ will beat you black and blue with new found strength.

Or maybe not. Maybe _that kid_ will take it upon themselves to become the bigger person. Maybe _that kid_, through some miracle, will find it in _her-them-him_ to forgive you. Maybe _that kid_ will be the one to step forwards and offer you a hand in the darkness and remember your name for something good for once.

But not many of _those kids_ are capable for that kind of empathy. A few are, but _they_ are a rare, rare breed of human. Which is more then can be said about you.

So as you walk those halls, try to remember_ that kid_. Try to think of _their-his-her_ name, the sound of _his-their-her_ voice. Try to think of one damn thing you know about _her-him-them_. You might be able to come up with answers, you might not. If you don't, think about why you can't.

Because I bet you that _that kid_ knows every single thing about you and could turn it against you in a moment. Because _that kid_ has been stewing in _their-his-her_ own loathing for years and is just sitting on it. Why?

Because _she-he-they_ can.

* * *

><p><strong>I don't really know what to say to this, so I'm going to start this author's note off the way I usually do and then figure it out from there.<strong>

**I'd like to thank all those who reviewed for the last instalment of this story: ilovemanicures, InsanityByDefinition, Aqua girl 007, and zukofan2005. You guys are the best.**

**This literally just sprung into my head a few minutes ago. I've been having a really awful few weeks and something just sent me over the edge, leading to this. So it is a bit of a rant, but at the same time, it is something that I believe that each and every Other has gone through: they haven't just been bullied and tormented, many of them have been forgotten.**

**I'm not going to lie and say that my life has been perfect. I don't think that anyone's has. I've been kicked down, pushed, punched and watched as those who bruised me were able to walk away unscathed as I was the one who was punished for getting hurt. I've had my feeling used against me by people who had no reason other than because they believed it was fun. I had a few years break in high school where I met people who taught me what friendship actually looked like, what love could actually be, before I was plunged back into it again.**

**In the last few months, I've had people who I thought I could trust abandon me. I've been laughed at by people I once called friend because I was left standing on my own. I've been ganged up on for something that I didn't do. And no matter what I try to do to defend myself, they won't listen to what I have to say because they've already made up their mind that I'm at fault. I couldn't say anything because I'd be cut off mid-sentence and screamed at like I've done something wrong.**

**It just seems so hard to make a stand when you're standing alone. It gets worse when the people you're trying to stand against know that and use it against you.**

**And then this happened today.**

**I've already mentioned that I'm in the middle of exams, so that means that we've got odd schedules at university for where we have to be at a given time. Up until last Saturday, I was at home studying. I came back Saturday night and, for the past five days, have been in and out of my room regularly - not even trying to hiding my presence (and trust me, I could if I wanted to).**

**My roommates just realized that I was here a few minutes ago. At first I thought it was a joke, but then I realized that they were being honest. I've walked in front of them, passed them, so many times in the last five days and not once did they care to notice. Even when I had an exam this morning with a pair of them, did they see me, even acknowledge my being there? No. It was like I was a ghost, forgotten because everyone else just didn't want to see me.**

**I'm really sorry for dumping all of this onto you guys, but - and I'm going to be really honest here - I don't know of anyone else who will listen at the moment. I'm just so sick of it all and the only thing that's keeping me going at the moment is that I'll be moving out of this god damn place in a next week. I'm tired of being _that kid_.**

**I'm dedicating this 'Page' of Odd Happenings to all of _those kids_, the ones that have been forgotten, hurt, and scarred because no one cared to look at us for more than a moment. Here's to us, because if we're going to stand alone, let us at least stand alone together.**

**Until next time,**

**AlcatrazOutpatient**


	5. Consent

**The Others: Odd Happenings**

**Disclaimer:** Yu-gi-oh! Duel Monsters is owned by Kazuki Takahashi, Studio Gallop, Nihon Ad Systems, and TV Tokyo. All names were changed to the characters of this fandom in order to protect the real people involved in the following incidents.

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><p><strong>Page 5: Consent<strong>

"I'm sorry."

"Don't. It's nothing, really."

"I'm really, really sorry. Oh god, is that a bite mark?"

"A-a what?"

"Oh god! I bit you!"

"…I didn't notice."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry-"

"Kisara."

"Yes, Seto."

"Just stop. Stop apologizing. Just a moment."

"Okay."

Haggard breathing.

"I'm sorry."

"Kisara, please."

"I tried. I really did. I tried to change my focus, I just couldn't control _her_. I'm so, so sorry."

A wet gasp.

"So sorry. I hurt you."

"No."

"You're bleeding. You're bleeding everywhere, Seto. I hurt you."

"I'm not hurt, just…"

"What?"

"Out of curiously, what did you try to change your focus to?"

Cough. Sputter.

"I-I-I…"

"You don't have to, if you don't –"

"No. No, you deserve to know, after I…I'm so sorry. Seto, I –"

"What did you try to change your focus to?"

"You."

Blink. Tilt of head.

"Me?"

"You."

"Why me?"

"You're calming."

"You find me calming?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"You just are."

Silence. And then:

"He's dead, you know. He can't take you back to that place."

"I know. I know, I know, oh god."

Dry retching.

"I think I have bits of his lungs in my teeth."

"You do."

"Ugh."

"His left thumb is in your hair. Here, let me –"

Nervously backing up.

"Kisara?"

"…I hurt you. I'm sorry. I should have never…I don't deserve you, Seto."

"What?"

"I don't deserve you, not after what I did to you."

"You just killed a man in a Berserker rage and you're worried about me?"

"He tried to kill you. His life doesn't matter, not when your's is in danger."

Shocked. Stunned. Shell shocked.

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not. And it's my fault."

"Kisara, really, I'm –"

"I raped you, Seto."

Teeth grind.

"Kisara –"

"I tried to change my focus to you, but then my emotion changed to lust and I –"

"Kisara –"

"-could see it happening but I couldn't stop myself, but I tried, I really did, I'm so sorry –"

"Kisara –"

"-and I bit you, clawed at you –"

"Kisara, just listen –"

"-you're bleeding everywhere, oh god, just kill me now –"

"Kisara!"

Hitched breath.

"Y-yes?"

Mumble.

"What…what did you say?"

Louder mumble.

"Seto, I can't – I can't hear you."

"…"

"Seto?"

"…It wasn't rape."

Jaw drops. Confused. Slightly angry.

"How was that not rape? Seto, I nearly killed you while I – while I fucked you."

"The definition of rape is to engage in sexual intercourse with someone without gaining their consent."

"I..I don't understand..."

Embarrassed blush.

"You can't rape...the willing."

"…"

"…"

"…What?"

Seto Kaiba. Beet red.

"I was consenting. Wanting. I liked it. Rough."

"What?"

"…gonna go find my pants…"

"WHAT?"

* * *

><p><strong>Hello all.<strong>

**I'd like to thank all of those who reviewed for the last instalment of Odd Happenings, as well as all of you who reached out with a helping hand. ilovemanicures, Aqua girl 007, InsanityByDefinition, zukofan2005, and Shadow Mage 7, you are all such beautiful people.**

**It would figure. I'm making my way through writing the next phase of Resurrection and then get hit with random inspiration to write Seto Kaiba three minutes after he looses his virginity to Kisara during wild, kinky Berserker sex in an alley. Why do you do this to me, imagination? Why?**

**At least I got to try out a new writing style and got to try my hand at Kaiba and Kisara's past again.**

**However, I also have some good news: I've started to work on the wiki for The Others Series. The link is in my profile, but it's nowhere near complete. Currently, the only pages that are up there are explanations of Others, Normals, Abnormals, as well as my bio. There is some information there that has not yet been released, but I wouldn't count them as spoilers. They're more like random bits of information that have been floating around in my mind, but (for some reason) never wanted to come out onto the page.**

**In other news, I move out of my residence tomorrow. In between job hunting, I'm going to write like the crazed maniac that I am.**

**Until next time,**

**AlcatrazOutpatient**


	6. Divinity

**The Others: Odd Happenings**

**Disclaimer:** Yu-gi-oh! Duel Monsters is owned by Kazuki Takahashi, Studio Gallop, Nihon Ad Systems, and TV Tokyo. All names were changed to the characters of this fandom in order to protect the real people involved in the following incidents.

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><p><strong>Sixth Page: Divinity<strong>

He wasn't human. That much was obvious. There was no way that that being was a man, a person, a human. No way. No way at all.

It was how he looked. He wasn't someone you could just ignore. There was something about him that just drew your eyes to him. You just had to pay attention to him. Tall, dark, and handsome, but that wasn't why. He was tall, yes, tall enough that he could look over all the heads in the crowd. He was dark, yes, with an aura around him that made people move aside for him in the streets. He was handsome, yes, and not just to the woman - though many of the men would be hard pressed to admit that.

But that wasn't it. There was something else, something more to him.

His eyes. They weren't black or blue. They weren't green or brown. They weren't the deepest of hazel or the faintest of greys. They were red. Not blood red. Not bright red. Demonic. Hellish. Wrong.

His hair, white like bone. His skin, dark like wet clay. His teeth, snake-like and fanged. His tongue, forked and slick and bait to a trap, sliding across lips laced with poison.

Wrong. Not human at all.

It was how he walked. His stride was beyond confident. Beyond arrogant, beyond egotistical, beyond narcissistic. His gait, were he a woman, would be almost seductive, like a wealthy escort for a king - but no, this man would not settle for a mere king, which was why those words would do nothing to fully described something as captivating as this man's steps.

He didn't march. He didn't amble. He didn't canter or lumber or pace. He stalked. He haunted. He pursued.

He hunted. What human hunts other men?

It was how he spoke. His words flowed in riddles and rhymes, like a secret code only he knew. They flowed like oil over water, from the back of his throat to the skin of his mouth and into the ear. They were mocking, down putting, and harsh. He didn't sugar coat. He didn't soften their effect. He went for the kill.

His voice was broken yet whole. Filled with prophecy and wisdom, destruction and carnage. Filled with death and death and more death. He spoke of worlds long since passed and in voices long since gone. Impossible things, his words were. Impossible, impossible things.

What manner of being could ever know of such things?

Only a god.

But this god - not a man, you stupid fool, for how could he be but a man - was not a Father. He was not a benevolent Lord. He was the shadows at night, the monster in the corner of your eye. The thing behind your back, breathing down your neck. He was the last sound, the last sight your would ever see.

He was not merciful. He was not kind. He was not love. He was not forgiveness. He was not light.

He was darkness itself.

A Dark God.

* * *

><p><strong>Hello again.<strong>

**I'd like to thank those who reviewed for the last page: zukofan2005, InsanityByDefinition, ilovemanicures, and Aqua girl 007. Yes, I know how weird I am. Thank you for putting up with that last page because I still don't know where it came from.**

**After almost a month of no updates, I post three in one week? I have no explanation, other than maybe my writer's block was merely a writer's dam and now the ideas are coming crashing down on me.**

**Until next time,**

**AlcatrazOutpatient**


	7. Parents

**The Others: Odd Happenings**

**Disclaimer:** Yu-gi-oh! Duel Monsters is owned by Kazuki Takahashi, Studio Gallop, Nihon Ad Systems, and TV Tokyo. All names were changed to the characters of this fandom in order to protect the real people involved in the following incidents.

* * *

><p><strong>Seventh Page: Parents<strong>

It's amazing how a tiny little symbol could change his life. It's wasn't even that big, those two lines on a strip of plastic. But they, followed shortly by the words that his girlfriend said, changed everything.

"I'm pregnant," Serenity whispered late at night, curling up against Duke on the couch. They'd been watching a movie, he can't remember what it was exactly. He thinks he misheard at first, but then she passes him the test with the pink equals sign that told him again that he was going to be a father, his heart stops completely.

"Oh," there isn't much more that he could say. His brain is melting. Duke wouldn't be surprised if it started pouring out of his ears. She's pregnant. Serenity is pregnant.

She's nineteen. He's twenty-one. They're essentially war veterans. His parents are two inches away from disowning him. She's nineteen. _Nineteen_. That's far too young to be a mother.

"Duke," he can hear the shacking in her voice. She's scared, far more than he was. "Duke, say something. Please."

"How?" He forces out. "We were being careful. It was one time. You're on the pill. How are you...?"

"I don't know," she buries her head in his shoulder. Her whole body is quaking. His whole body is quaking. She's just nineteen.

Duke tries his best to breathe. He can't believe it. He'd stared death in the face. He'd been there, on the final battlefield, when the Devil first stepped out of her cage. And he's never been as frightened as he is now. He doesn't seem to understand how that makes sense.

Maybe its because he knew the war would end, on way or another. Being a parent didn't stop. Ever.

"What do you want to do?" He asks. She makes a noise, half whimper half confusion. He continues, "It's your body, Serenity, not mine. If you want to abort -"

"No!" She sits up quickly, staring at him intently, "No. No, no, no. Not aborting. I can't do that, I just can't."

She clutched her stomach - no. She was holding her child. Then it hits him.

Child. Serenity's child. Duke suddenly gets visions of her holding a baby, clothed in pure white sheets, auburn hair aglow. His heart pounds, not out of fear but out of longing. He wants that, he really does. It scares him how much he wants that.

Serenity's child was Duke's child. His child. Their baby.

"If you want to keep it - her, him...whatever it is," he takes a breath, pulling her towards him in a hug, "I'll be there. I'll definitely be there. Even if you don't. I'm not leaving you, Serenity. We've been through so much together and I'll be beside you to the end."

"Even if I want to give the baby up for adoption?" She looks down for a moment.

"Even then."

Serenity looks up, staring into his eyes. She's beautiful, utterly beautiful. He doesn't even understand why she's with him sometimes. She is so out of his league, so utterly beyond him, but she loves him anyways.

"Duke," she kisses him softly, arms around his neck. She pulls back, "I should have told you earlier. I was just scared."

"Earlier? How long have you known?"

"About a week and a half," she admits. He thinks back to that time and remembers that it was in the middle of his college exams. He probably would have failed miserably if he'd known and silently thanks Serenity for that. At least this way, if she keeps the kid, he'll be able to support it.

He can't help it. Duke cracks. It comes out as a near hysterical laugh that works it's way past any barrier he might have, out past his lips. His laugh, for once in his life, is not the joyous happy thing that would have once made girls swoon and turn to mush at his feet. It is rare uncertainty in its truest form but Duke knows that there isn't a force on earth that will keep him away from Serenity.

* * *

><p>He tells his parents first. This is probably the largest mistake he's made in his entire life. Looking back on it, Duke wonders why the hell he didn't tell Bakura or Amane. Even breaking the news to Joey - "Hey, man. I know we were supposed to meet up over the weekend to go to that bar and all, but I think I got your sister pregnant. Yeah. Whoops. Please don't kill me in my sleep." - would have been better than this.<p>

"She will get an abortion," his mother says through gritted teeth. His father nods stiffly.

It feels like he's been dumped in the Antarctic Ocean. They don't care. They don't care about their grandchild. They don't care about Serenity. They'd made their decision about not approving of here by reading a fucking report by some guy they hired to tail her for a month. They thought she was some gold digger, convinced that a bun in the oven would be the only thing that would keep him from leaving her. His parents didn't care. They'd never cared about anything but their own money.

After he'd returned to them from the war, all they'd spoken about what how, under the regime of the Orichalcos, they'd been unable to get some of their supplies from some sweatshop in China. They didn't give a damn about anything but themselves.

The resulting argument is loud, utterly boiling over with rage. It ends with Duke storming up to his room, packing his bags and thumping down the staircase. He doesn't make much of a show about leaving, though. He's just tired of it all at that point.

He gets a call from his parent's lawyer a few days later. The woman says that his parents have written him out of the will. She also passes on the message that they don't want to see him as long as Serenity and her child are in his life. Duke tells her that he has a message for them as well.

"Just because you've never loved anything other than yourselves doesn't mean that I have to as well. So go fuck yourself on a cactus. Yes, tell them that. Those exact words."

Duke never speaks to his parents again.

* * *

><p>"I'm keeping it," Serenity tells him as he puts away his clothes. They've been renting a small apartment for the last three years together, but they've always kept most of their stuff at their houses. But now that Duke doesn't have that option, this will become his home.<p>

He glances over at her, before his eyes travel down to her stomach. He can't see anything yet, not even the faintest hint of a swell, but he knows. He just knows.

"Keep it, keep it?" He asks.

"Yeah," she smiles sweetly. Her long hair is tied back at the base of her neck because she just hopped out of the shower, her tang top is ill-fitting because he accidentally shrunk it in the wash, and a pair of his boxers barely managing to stay around her waist. He wonders if Serenity will give him _that look_ again if he blurts out that she's probably the most beautiful woman he's ever laid eyes on, even when she's dressed like this.

Then the full gravity of the situation descends on him, but for the life of him he can't see any form of negative in it, "You're keeping it. You're keeping the baby. You're keeping...keeping...I'm going to be a father!"

Duke leaps up, does a fist pump midair and then let's out the loudest whoop of joy in the history of the world. Serenity bursts out laughing at his antics, but he can't seem to care.

She's only nineteen and he's only twenty-one. They're not going to be perfect, but somehow they're going to make it work.

* * *

><p>Needless to say, her father, Joseph Wheeler, hits the roof. However, he doesn't implement the usual reaction to finding out your teenaged daughter is pregnant and that you're going to become a grandfather before your fortieth birthday. Instead of getting angry and threatening to castrate Duke, the man walks across the room and hugs him.<p>

"Thank you," he says, taking the soon-to-be father (and he still can't get over referring to himself as that) completely by surprise.

"For what?" Duke stammers, not knowing how to take this reaction.

"You could have abandoned her. But you didn't. You'll make a great dad."

Duke looks at Joseph, who's got nothing more than a 'Fifteen Years Sober' AA medallion and a job as a mechanic to his name, and wonders how such a man could be so amazing. He wishes, not for the first time, that Joseph were his actual father.

Joey doesn't say much; he only smiles and tells Duke to take care of his sister. He doesn't add in an 'or else.' He knows that he doesn't have to.

Later that night, Duke takes Serenity's dad aside and quietly asks him a question. Something on the man's face just screams that he's known that this was how things were going to turn out, but he doesn't question it. To be honest, he's seen far to many things that he would consider to be impossible in the last few years to even start questioning something as small as this now.

He goes to the mall the very next day and picks out a ring.

* * *

><p>He plans for it to be romantic. He plans for it to be memorable. But Duke should have learned from years of hanging out with Bakura and his merry band of crazies that plans usually go out the window five minutes into their beginnings.<p>

He plans for a candle-lit dinner, one that he would cook himself. But there is a reason why Serenity never lets Duke anywhere near a stove. In her words, "Duke, I love you, but if there was a way to burn water, you'd find it."

He tries, though. Fails miserably, but tries anyways. Ends up throwing the dirty pots and pans into the sink to wash later and goes to the local grocery store to buy something instead. Through some freak catastrophe, everything except the sushi is sold out. While Duke could practically live off of the stuff, Serenity can barely be in the same room as it without turning green. He quickly considers a dial-a-meal approach. Delivery it is.

He's halfway through punching in the numbers for Pizza Pizza when Serenity walks in the door. Duke nearly swears, but holds it back because the words just seem to catch in his throat. Her eyes travel towards the dishes that he has yet to do back to him. Him, in a t-shirt that he hasn't run through the laundry in about a month. Him, unshaven with his five o'clock shadow quickly morphing into the nine o'clock version. Him, looking absolutely ridiculous with his mouth hanging open and phone almost to his ear.

Her eyes then travel to the tiny little box on the table. It's open and the ring is very, very visible. He'd been running his lines a few minutes previous.

"Duke? What...?" Serenity stammers, hand slipping over her stomach in a habit that she'd developed lately. He can barely make out the slight bulge - their child, right there. Right there.

He had been planning to basically recite their entire life together, telling her how much he loved her and how much he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. But now he realizes, through some blinding moment of clarity, that she already knows that and saying it again would just be redundant. So Duke just asks.

"Serenity, can we talk?"

"About what?" She smiles, falling into their old habit of saying these words when something big has or is about to happen.

"Anything. Just anything."

She laughs, sits down in the chair across from him and smiles. She nudges the ring, "What's this for?"

"Well, you see, I've got the amazing girlfriend and I was wondering if she, uh, wanted to marry me?"

"Duke?"

"Yep?"

"You suck at proposals."

"Regardless, the question still stands," he will never admit how clammy his hands are at the moment or the fact that they are shaking uncontrollably.

Serenity leans forwards, pulling the box towards her. It's not a big ring, but it's got a diamond on it (it was her birthstone after all). She stares at it for a while before a tear rolls down her cheek.

"Yes," she whispers. "Yes. Yes, yes, yes. I will, god, yes."

He slips the ring onto the correct finger, before getting up and moving around the table. She leaps into his arms, hugging him for all he was worth.

"It's so stupid," Serenity gasped into his shoulder. "I never thought this would happens. Never."

"Really?" He asks. He's down right confused because he's wanted to pop the question to her since he was in the ninth grade.

"I was always worried that you'd end up leaving me in high school for another girl, that I'd just be another on of your ex's. I was so dumb back then," she laughs.

"You were scared that I'd love another woman?" He shakes his head, "Of course I'll end up loving another woman."

Serenity looks at him strangely, but Duke spreads his hand over her stomach. He gives her one of his winning grins, "A few months from now, she'll be calling you mom."

Needless to say, the two of them end up in a sweaty, tangled mass of sheets later that night. Duke thinks, to this day, that while his proposals may be sucky, his lines are criminally smooth.

* * *

><p>The moment that Duke tells Bakura, he honestly believes that this is the first time that he's shocked the (in his opinion) near demi-god into silence. He thinks back to the tiny little kid from that first gym class all those years ago and wonders how the person in front of him could possibly be the same person. He shakes his head, clearing his thoughts.<p>

"Duke, I must be hallucinating because I could have sworn that you just said that Serenity was pregnant," Bakura gapes openly. Behind him, Atem freezes halfway in the middle of taking a step. For a moment, he doesn't think she's breathing.

"Yeah, she is," he says again. "We're getting married, too."

"Does this have anything to do with your family finally giving you the boot?" Bakura's fingers clench in his shirt, almost uncomfortably. Duke recognizes the signs: he's remembering something from his past, though which past is unknown.

"I don't want to talk about that," he grumbles. "Either way, I've got something I need to ask you."

It takes a few moments for Bakura to collect himself and re-enter the present. Duke let's him, having seen this a few times before. When the legendary warrior nods, he takes a breath.

"Do you want to be best man?"

Bakura's head snaps up, "Me?"

"You."

"W-what? Why? Why me? Why not...god, there are tonnes of other people. Why me?"

"I hate to remind you of this, but you were the person who basically got the two of us together. If anyone deserves that spot, it's you," Duke grins when he gets a chuckle out of the Shattered Soul. "Also, if you refuse, I'll lock you in a room with Serenity while she's having a craving. And those are not fun."

Bakura breaks out laughing at that, before agreeing between gasps.

"This means I'm going to have to wear a dress, doesn't it?" Atem sighs, her wildly coloured hair recently cut. It's only an inch and a half long now, the shortest he's ever scene it. She's grinning wildly, despite the fact that she hates wearing dresses. It makes her look much younger than she actually is.

Duke nods, "I guess I'll add you both to the guest list then."

"Have you told the others yet?" Atem asks.

"Joey and Joseph already do. Serenity is at Amane's now. Magic already knows, but give that he's...well, God, that's a given. I yelled it towards the sky yesterday, just in case. I was going to head over to Strings' place after this."

Atem and Bakura share a look before the man turns towards him with a wicked smirk, "We're coming, too. I can't wait to see the looks on their faces."

* * *

><p>Tea promised that she wouldn't cry. This promise goes out the window as Serenity says her vows. Duke can see her from where she sits in the first row. Joey shifts beside his sister, standing in the place of a bridesmaid. Brides<em>man<em> is his official title. Serenity didn't want anyone aside from her brother up there with her.

Duke nearly forgot how to function when he saw her in her dress, walking down the aisle. Thankfully, Bakura kept him upright. He heard the man chuckling behind him, though it wasn't mocking. Just before Serenity reached him in front of the priest, Bakura whispers, "You are one lucky guy."

"Don't I know it," he said back.

The wedding was simple, taking place in a small park. Their friends help to fund it. Duke manages - just manages - to talk Serenity into it. The chairs are filled with her family and their friends. Even Magic turned out, sitting with Amane, arm in arm. She murmurs something in his ear and it makes the God smile warmly in a way he probably hasn't done in over a millennia.

He takes a glance towards the back, where a woman with startling auburn hair sits without gazing at the front. She isn't dressed for a wedding in her jeans and pull over sweater. Her knees bounce erratically as her hands thread together.

The woman glances upwards once, though they aren't trained on the bride. Instead, she looks at Joseph Wheeler.

Serenity doesn't realize until much later, when she goes through the guest book, that her mother attended her wedding. The woman's gift is a lottery ticket. While most people would consider it to be an incredibly cheep present, they both get the message that is sent with it: good luck.

They win ten bucks.

* * *

><p>The other wedding gifts, however, change their lives.<p>

The first one is a gift from Seto and Mokuba, along with Kisara. It consists of a single note, written in Seto Kaiba's directly-to-the-point letters, on the inside of a card. It says "Please forward all of your educational expenses to KaibaCorp."

Serenity drops the card in surprise, hands sliding over her belly. It's become obvious that she's pregnant now as she enters her fourth month. She had been considering dropping out of college, where she is majoring in journalism, because they had more important things to use their money for. But now...

"Holy crap," Duke says breathlessly as he reads the note. He notes that Kaiba has underlines the word 'all' three times.

The next comes from Atem, Bakura, and (to their surprise) Marik Ishtar. It's a house.

The morons bought them a fucking house. Duke actually faints.

They drive up there the next day. Their friends are waiting for them on the front steps. Rex and Weevil are the first to greet them, whisking them inside with over-the-top, frankly flamboyant, impressions of a pair of real estate agents. Duke doesn't know who's moving his feet, but he's pretty sure it isn't him. He never knew that shock could induce out-of-body experiences. He'll write about this in his thesis.

The house is a small bungalow located not far from the college that both of them are going to. It's a two bedroom-single bath, with a finished basement and modernized kitchen.

"I didn't know you could get these places fully furnished," he spits out suddenly.

Bakura appears quite literally out of no where, "You don't."

And then it hits him. This is it. Their friends gotten together and given them a place to raise their child. Serenity breaks down in tears of joy, whispering, "Bless you. God bless you all."

Duke looks around at all of them, all those who'd stood on the field of battle with him and his wife not so long ago. He remembers being covered in grime, the weight of his gun in his hand. He remembers that his throat was raw from shouting orders. He remembers the smell of death. He remembers the faces that not longer walk amongst them.

He remembers all of that and realizes why they are doing this.

Duke and Serenity's child is the first bit of good news that they've heard in a long time. It's a beacon of hope for a new start.

"Thank you," he says to all of them.

Magic grins, **"Don't thank us yet. Wait until you see the backyard."**

* * *

><p>Serenity's nineteen. Duke's twenty-one. And looking back to the day they first met, they'd never expect that it would turn out like this.<p>

They aren't the perfect couple, but they make it work. Their daughter doesn't grow up in the most normal of households, though it's difficult to have it any other way when her godparents were Ryou Bakura and Atem of Tikal. Normal doesn't really happen when your extended family consisted of internationally infamous hackers, insane inventors, CEOs, government officials, spy masters, leaders in world in peace, rock stars, and a freaking god.

But then again, the Devlin family never did normal.

Duke sometimes thinks back to a set of very wise words that were said to him once. He remembers Bakura's red eyes, the scent of freshly cut park grass, and the feeling of utter dread.

_"You're lucky enough to know what love feels like,"_ Bakura had told him so long ago, _"so don't you dare mess up this chance you have with her."_

He turns to his wife, holding her close. They watch their daughter lovingly as Hope lays silently in her crib.

"Thank you," he says softly.

Serenity smiles, "Always."

* * *

><p><strong>Hello everyone!<strong>

**I'd like to thank those who reviewed for the last chapter: InsanityByDefinition and ilovemanicures.**

**This obviously takes place after The Second War of the Orichalcos occurs. It starts off about two years after The Third Year will end. Believe it or not, but I do have most of my characters lives planned out all the way until their deaths.**

**For example, Marik and Mana do eventually get married (Marik at twenty five and Mana a year younger). They will have two kids, the eldest of which is their biological son and the younger daughter is adopted. Mana will find her parents in Mexico and bring them to the States, getting them their citizenship and helping her little sister (one that she didn't know about as she was separated from her family when she was only a few months old) get some help with her cocaine addiction.**

**Marik visits his father about twice a year: once on the man's birthday and once on the anniversary of the day that Khalid carved the scars into his back. They don't speak during these visits, only sit across from each other in silence. Marik has never fully forgiven his father for what he did and probably never will. At least, though, he understands _why_ Khalid did what he did now. That has worked miracles on Marik's relationship with his father.**

**If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, feel free to leave a review, post a question on my forum, or send me a PM.**

**Until next time,**

**AlcatrazOutpatient**


	8. Here's To The Meek

**The Others: Odd Happenings**

**Disclaimer:** Yu-gi-oh! Duel Monsters is owned by Kazuki Takahashi, Studio Gallop, Nihon Ad Systems, and TV Tokyo. All names were changed to the characters of this fandom in order to protect the real people involved in the following incidents.

* * *

><p><strong>Eight Page: Here's To The Meek<strong>

The Caregiver is a woman, but not for a second should you think that because she is such and because she is named as she is, that she is not strong. She is the shoulder to lean on when all seems lost. She is the arms that will hold the dying until the end. She is unbreakable because she cares and because she is a woman.

"_We are volcanoes. When we women offer our experience as our truth, as human truth, all the maps change. There are new mountains." – Ursula K. Le Guin_

Tea digs her heals into the ground, "I'm not done yet!" She dances to her own tune now.

* * *

><p>They know how to stand amongst a crowd and feel alone. In the beginning – in the time before everything - the Foreigner could never understand and the Liar didn't want to understand. Together they find solace. There is a love between them, that is for sure, but it is a love that no one but them understands. It's beyond friendship, beyond a romance that would be impossible between them. It's something so completely them that it defies all attempts at definition.<p>

"_Geography has made us neighbors. History has made us friends. Economics has made us partners, and necessity has made us allies. Those whom God has so joined together, let no man put asunder." – John Fitzgerald Kennedy_

"I'm going in," Joey mutters into the microphone.

"Don't worry. I've got your back," Miho stares through the scoop of her rifle.

* * *

><p>The Prince was born into riches, the Princess to rags. But it is not their caste that makes them royalty and only a fool would think that it would. It is when the Prince has his hands wrist deep in another man's stomach, sewing an injury back together as an explosion erupts behind him. It's when the Princess is so far behind enemy lines that she might never come back. It's when they speak to each other, knowing that no matter the distance, they can still hear one another.<p>

"_When the light has sharply faded and you have lost your way let another's love guide you. It can turn blackest night into day." - Anonymous_

"We can't die," Duke and Serenity whisper in tandem. They simply refuse to let the impossible happen.

* * *

><p>The Tigress roars. She kicks and punches and claws and bites. She is but a blur to her enemies, a blessing to her allies. She doesn't leave a man behind and she certainly doesn't leave a job unfinished. And nothing that stands in her way will remain there for long.<p>

"_Where there is a will, there is a way. If there is a chance in a million that you can do something, anything, to keep what you want from ending, do it. Pry the door open or, if need be, wedge your foot in that door and keep it open." – Arthur Pine_

Vivian grins, "We can do this the easy way or the hard way. Your choice." Her enemy doesn't stand a chance.

* * *

><p>The Fire Starter is a genius. And while it is rare for him to see combat, he knows it as intimately as the worn keys of his laptop and the smooth metal of his tools. With his intellect, he can even odds in a way that shows that magic means nothing when you have science and brains on your side.<p>

"_Very few people are ambitious in the sense of having a specific image of what they want to achieve. Most people's sights are only toward the next run, the next increment of money." - Judith M. Bardwick_

"It's not that I don't believe in the impossible. It's that I can't afford to," Namu grinds his teeth and promises a final outcome. His mind whirls with a thousand new possibilities.

* * *

><p>The Death Child is brave. He knows what true courage is. Even though he's scared – of himself, of his powers, of everything that is ahead of him – he carries on. He was never meant for this, but he's fighting anyways because this is what he knows is right. He fights for the one person, out of every single being past, present, and future, who he wants as a brother. He fights for the man who taught him to be brave.<p>

_"I must not fear. Fear is the mind killer. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain." - Frank Herbert_

"Don't underestimate me!" Leon shouts, pulling his glove from his hand. His jaw is set and his mind is clear.

* * *

><p>The Magician Girl is the trickster. When she's there – or is she there at all? – you never know what's fact and what's fiction. Everything is nothing and nothing is everything. The shadows dance and the light shimmers and suddenly the world is not the world but a veil that has been pulled over your eyes. Reality is not but a word, but it is her word and you will be able to do nothing except follow it.<p>

_"What is a lie? It is to say what is real is not real. It is to deny the existence of what exists." - Peter Nivio Zarlenga_

Mana laughs, "Catch me if you can!" She weaves a dream into a dream into a dream into reality.

* * *

><p>The Not-Quite Twins are two that are one. Birth means nothing. Past means nothing. Before they met, they were incomplete halves of the same whole. And now that they are together, they will never be apart ever again. One of them will swear that only half of the blood that flows through his veins is his own – the other half is that of his partners.<p>

_"Two souls with but a single thought, Two hearts that beat as one." - Friedrich Halm_

"Just try us. We dare you," Rex and Weevil speak as one, live as one, breathe as one, exist as one.

* * *

><p>The Healer refuses to stop. It isn't that he won't or that he feels that he shouldn't. Stopping doesn't exist in his worldview. Because stopping means letting lives slip through his fingers, lives that could be saved. He'd let one person slip through and he's not about to do a repeat performance. And god help the poor fool who tries to get him to do some.<p>

_"Each day you live, is a day to make a significant difference in your life, or the life of another." - Curvin Leatham_

"I can rest when I'm dead," Mako throws himself into the fray once more. There's still so many more to save.

* * *

><p>The Silent One is the planner. He simply knows. He knows how things will work, how things won't. He knows when to move and when to stay still. He can interpret words from the smallest of reactions and there isn't a secret in your mind that you cannot hide from him. Many have tried and none have succeeded. And while he's sure that some idiot will try again, he's ready for them. He's always ready for anything.<p>

_"You win not by chance, but by preparation." - Roger Maris_

"You're nothing," Strings says but speaks not a word. His lips are dry, creaked and bloody, but his mind is sharp as ever.

* * *

><p>The Warrior Woman sees the world from above. She spots threats at a distance and takes them out before they can even become what they are supposed to be. She is loud but quite, passionate but patient. She is a protector and a fighter and is nothing less than strength incarnate. Nothing gets passed her, not until it takes her own first. She will stop at nothing to make sure that her comrades in arms can sleep safely at night.<p>

_"It gives me strength to have somebody to fight for; I can never fight for myself, but, for others, I can kill." - Emilie Autumn_

Mai strikes from the sky, biting back a grin that would put the fear of God into an atheist, "You're mine!"

* * *

><p>The Messenger is the one who endures. He may look like a rebel, he may speak like he doesn't give a damn, but he knows the feeling of eyes on the back of his head. He knows it and still stands tall despite everything that's happened to him. The past is the past and it has made him so much stronger that he would have been without it. The scars will always matter, but they will never stop him.<p>

_"Inside yourself or outside, you never have to change what you see, only the way you see it." - Thaddeus Golas_

"Let's get going. We've got a world to save," Marik's smiles may not always meet his eyes, but he'll fight every day to make sure that they do.

* * *

><p>The Always-There Man and the Perfect Spy work in tandem with each other like a well-oiled machine. They move together as if they know what each other is thinking – and maybe they do. The Perfect Spy can see everything and the Always-There Man knows everything that's there. They are the eyes and the ears, the sight and sound. They are the whispers in the darkest of corridors on the blackest of nights.<p>

_"Knowledge is the only elegance." - Ralph Waldo Emerson_

"There's an attack on the eastern front," Ishizu sees the world through the bluest of eyes.

"I've heard," Mahad answers, a dark shadow passing over his face. "I've already sent someone to deal with her."

* * *

><p>The Dark Horse fights dirty. He tricks and manipulates, promising promises that may or may not be fulfilled. He is the knife in the back, the final smirk that you see. He exists in the public eye but it is only behind it where he truly thrives. He laughs at how easily the world can be fooled because only an idiot could not see what he is truly doing.<p>

_"We like to be deceived." - Blaise Pascal_

Mokuba sighs, "You are a fool." He raises his gun and pulls the trigger. The body falls, but the light is already gone from the person's eyes.

* * *

><p>The Tame Beast fights for love. Not for justice, not for loyalty, not for what is right or wrong. She fights for love and that makes her one of the most dangerous beings on the battlefield. Because it is one thing to fight for yourself, it is a completely different thing to fight for someone you would trade the world for in an instant. She will only stop moving when the last breath leaves her lungs and even then she wonders if that would honestly be enough to stop her.<p>

_"We understand death for the first time when he puts his hand upon one whom we love." - Baronne Anne Louis De Stal Stal_

Kisara doesn't say a word. She just lets _her_ out of the cage.

* * *

><p>The Commander would never admit it, but he is scared. He is scared of death. He is scared of loss. But most of all, he is scared of failure. He doesn't want to fail his mother, his brother, the woman he loves. He doesn't want them to see him crumble, but sometimes they do despite everything that he does. And when his mother's small arms wrap around his shoulders or his brother gives him a comforting smile or when the woman he loves sheds tears beside him, he knows that he doesn't really have to be scared.<p>

_"THe price of greatness is responsibility." - Winson Churchill_

Seto squares his shoulders, "We've got a job to do." He may be the leader, but without those behind him, he knows he is nothing. And he's fine with that.

* * *

><p>The Shattered Soul and the Immortal Mortal are broken, tortured souls that have managed to put each other back together. It is only when they are together that they truly thrive and they have done so so many times in years long gone. They don't just stand together, but support each other on the battlefield. They hold each other together, bound by years and events and experiences that are not all remembered.<p>

_"The longer the life the more the offense, the more the offense the more the pain, the more the pain the less defense and the less defense the less the gain." - Sir T. Wyatt_

"It's time," Atem whispers, eyes gazing up at the man she will be beside until her dying days.

"I know," Bakura nods and holds out a hand. "Come on, this is it. Let's finish this together."

* * *

><p>King Tonatiuh of Mu, son of Raa and direct descendent of Pojar, once told Him that humans were meek little creatures that would drop dead if a breeze brew over them. On the day he claimed the throne for himself – "The King is dead. Long live the King" – he promised to squash them under his feet.<p>

The Lord did nothing but smile, shaking His head and mockingly shouted, "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth."

And you know what?

They did.

* * *

><p><strong>Hi guys!<strong>

**I'd like to thank those who reviewed for the last chapter: zukofan2005, InsanityByDefinition, Aqua girl 007, and ilovemanicures.**

**I'm looking back on this page now and realizing just how many quotes I stuck in there. Wow, that was a lot of time I spent on the internet finding those. Still don't regret it, because I think it turned out well.**

**As an update on my progress, the next part of Resurrection should be up soon. Also, I've been working on some essays that will be posted in Odd Happenings as well. On top of that, I'm working out the details of Ancient society. To be frank, stuff's happening in The Others. But then again, when is it not?**

**For those who don't remember, King Tonatiuh is the father of Ironheart and the grandfather of Dartz. He was the king that created the Beast and the Orichalcos. His father, King Raa, was the one that was ruling at the time of Magic's creation.**

**You might also be wondering why Magic is addressed as He or The Lord in the last section. If you remember, in The Abnormal, the name Magic comes from Amane. She names him as such. Before then, he went by a series of titles, like The Lord, Father, Creator, Him or He.**

**Until next time,**

**AlcatrazOutpatient**


	9. Are We Free?

**The Others: Odd Happenings**

**Disclaimer:** Yu-gi-oh! Duel Monsters is owned by Kazuki Takahashi, Studio Gallop, Nihon Ad Systems, and TV Tokyo. All names were changed to the characters of this fandom in order to protect the real people involved in the following incidents.

**Warning:** Mentions of the African Slave Trade, Anti-Semitism, and other related topics. Please note that anything mentioned in the following chapter does not reflect the actual opinions of AlcatrazOutpatient.

* * *

><p><strong>Ninth Page: Are We Free?<strong>

_"Slaves lose everything in their chains, even the desire of escaping from them."  
>- Jean Jacques Rousseau<em>

Rashidi and Hasina met in a cage. It was made of metal, the third bar left of the entrance was covered in rust. It was the first he'd been sold. It was her third.

The guards, the cruel men that they were - French men, godless men - threw a bowl of slop and a stale loaf of bread into the cage. The hungry ones lurched forwards, scrambling towards the food. The strong ones fended the others off, punching and kicking, so that they could eat. Rashidi, the fool of a man he was in her opinion, waded into the thick of it and earned a black eye for his troubles.

"Now ya done it," Hasina shook her head. "No one w'll buy ya now. No one wants a fighter, 'less they be the type that likes to break a man."

Rashidi frowns and shakes his head. He speaks in the language of his home, "I don't speak the white man's words."

Hasina looks nervously around, eying the guard. The man's back is turned and he looks more interested in the market's flower girls than he does with his duties. She switches effortlessly to his language, "You'll learn. You'll learn or they'll beat you."

She hands him some bread. It's less than a mouthful, but it is more than he would have gotten by himself. He chews on it until it is less coarse and half-way edible. He swallows and feels his freedom begin to ebb away.

* * *

><p>A wealthy banker buys the two of them. Unlike several of the other slaves on the auction block, the man does not purchase them for hard labour. Instead, he needs house slaves to wait on him hand and foot.<p>

Rashidi follows his orders like he's eating salt. It seems like another lifetime, where he'd been a prince and powerful, standing proud at his father's side. And then the white man came with his guns and his chains and his nets. He came with his ship that sailed so far out onto the ocean that one could not see the shore anymore. He came and took him away from his home to work in chains.

Hasina is the only bright star of his day. She teaches him, slowly but surely, how to speak French and how to act. When they are alone though, she talks in her native tongue.

"You're Swahili," he points out one day. It is fairly obvious, as she is the language that she speaks. But he feels a bit more at home, knowing that there is a fellow speaker in this strange land.

She nods, but the words that come from her lips are French, "I 'as took when I 'as a little girl. Ma first masta' 'as a bad man. 'E used to like little girls. But 'e died - 'e got sick bad. Never saw ma or da after I got sold a second time."

"Does ya rememb'r any o' it?" He asks, attempting French.

"Some. Not much."

"Does ya wan' to go home?"

Hasina gives him a reproachful look, "Ya home be here with da master. And 'e be a good master. 'E don't go whippin' and rapin' 'is slaves. Ya be thankful for wha' ya got. Ain't no point wishin' for what ain't gonna 'appen."

She walks away, her head held high and proud. It breaks Rashidi's heart to see such a woman bound by the white man.

* * *

><p>Their slave master is as kind as a slave master can be. His profession leads to his good treatment; he thought it was easier to keep his slaves well fed and healthy because it was cheaper than always buying new ones. He brought his children up in a similar mindset. Rashidi was surprised to see the man punish his own sun for striking one of the women.<p>

"She's not people, though, father," the little boy looked ready to cry. "That's what everyone says."

"Then everyone is wrong. Our people not much better in the eyes of the King, so I'll he no claiming about being better humans."

After the child leaves the room, head hung low, the master turned towards Rashini. He sighed, "I apologize for my son's behaviour. It will not happen again. I'll make sure of it."

He blinks, confused. But then he shakes his head, "It's not me place to say, sir."

"Is it? Some times I wonder if it should be," the man rambles, waving his hand eccentrically. "Why, one day, it may be my family and I in your place. I wait each passing day for the King to grow tired of us and rake us away."

"If ye don't mind me askin', sir," Rashidi ventures, "Why you worri'd about bein' took?"

He smiles, though there is no humour, "I'm Jewish."

* * *

><p>Rashidi isn't quite sure when it happens, or why for that matter, but he finds himself falling in love with Hasina. She older than the tribal girls that had once been offered as suitable wives, but she has an air about her that they never possessed. She laughs and sings in the dead of night, always has a smile on her face, and never seems to back down no matter what the situation. She never gave up, merely worked through her hardships with the steady dedication and perseverance that was so integral to her very being.<p>

Vandals attacked the house in the middle of the night, painting the outer walls in pigs blood with words. He doesn't know what they say until he sees the master reading them under his breath.

"'Rothschilds: Get out!'" The man scoffs, "Idiots. The Rothschilds are in England. That's like saying the Hanovers rule France."

Rashidi doesn't understand half the words that come out of his mouth, but he thinks he can understand that a few of them were names. As the master ushers his children inside before they can see the damage, Rashidi feels a small wave of respect for him. In a way, the man is in chains like he is - only they cannot be seen.

* * *

><p>Rashidi is about a year and a half into his service when he learned his master's name. It's not that he hasn't heard it before, it's that he never bothered to remember it until now. The man says that he needs someone to wait on him while he visited a client's home. Rashidi gets picked. Before he goes, he makes sure to tell Hasina where he's going so that she doesn't worry. She smiles and kisses him lightly on the mouth.<p>

He's taken aback at first by her forwardness, but then smiles and promises to return home safely. Rashidi spends most of the trip trying not to smile.

The master's face, he notices from his glances into the depths of the carriage, is longer than most of the people on the street. The wonders if that's what separates him from the crowds of dark haired pale skinned people of France. The horse's hooves click against the cobblestone road and the wheels continue to rattle and roll.

Rashidi opens the carriage door with a bow and the master steps out. He glances around, straightens his coat and starts his walk towards the front gate. The house is large, even for a country home. Rashidi trails behind the man, a step to his left and three steps back. The master raps twice on the door. A butler with greying hair and a wrinkled face answers with a smile.

"I'm here to see Monsieur David," the master nodded politely. "I have an appointment. It is to discuss his investments."

"Ah," the butler pretends to look like he hadn't known all along and, with a look of distaste that Rashidi knows all to well but notices is not aimed solely at him, guides them inside. Once the master is seated, the butler indicates to a platter of pastries, speaking in slow and simple words - mocking words - as to let him know to offer the man some.

As the butler walks away, Rashidi mutters an unkind curse on his family in his own language. He picks up the plate and, with a straight back just like Hasina showed him, steps back into the sitting room.

"Sir?" He leans down, just enough so that the master can see the different cakes on the tray. The man selects one with a fruit of some kind (Rashidi doesn't know what) and pops it into his mouth.

"Have you ever tried one of those?" He asks. Rashidi thinks he shouldn't be surprised about this man and how he always asks odd questions, but is anyways.

"No, sir. Never, sir. I just eat what is given to me by the cooks," he is slightly proud about how his French has improved since he was bought.

"Try one," the master points to the platter. Rashidi's jaw clenches, aware that he is in a mother man's house. If he is caught taking their food, the master might not be able to protect him from the whip.

Thankfully, the man sees this, "Not hungry, hmmm? That's fine. Your name - it's Rashidi isn't it?"

The master's accent makes him pronounce it oddly, but it is close enough that he can recognize it. He nods, however stiffly.

"You've got a lady friend back home," the man stares out the window briefly before turning back to him. "You should know that I do not object to such a thing. However, if she falls pregnant at any time, I will be unable to procure her a doctor. I am informed, though, that there is a midwife amongst the slaves and she should be able to care for your woman."

Rashidi nearly drops the plate in surprise. Children? With Hasina? He hadn't thought such a thing to be possible. But then he thinks of what the consequences of such actions could entail, "And the child, sir?"

The man's face softens, "I am a banker, but I am not heartless as many of my clients would like to believe. I would not sell your child, Rashidi."

The doors to the sitting room open once more and the butler announces the arrival of "Monsieur Louis-Maurice David".

"Ah! Elijah! It has been too long!" The client, a large man with a scruffy beard, steps into the room, "And how is your wife?"

"Gabrielle is doing well, as are my sons. Joseph, my eldest, is studying to become a lawyer."

"Moving up in the world, the boy is. Well, then, down to business, shall we, Monsieur Bakura. Let's remove the porch monkey - not that he'll understand what we're saying, the dumb thing."

Rashidi moves from the room, though his fists are clenched and he is ready to strike back with all his force. He has not forgotten how to wield a weapon and he is -

"Damned Christ killer," the butler mumbles as Rashidi walks past. The man looks on at the master with utter contempt in his eyes, "Parasites, the lot of them. Coming into our country, stealing our gold. Don't know why the king puts up with them."

He's not the only one that's hated in this damned country.

* * *

><p>Hasina is a goddess. He's convinced of this and there is no one that can convince him of otherwise. Rashidi kisses the back of her neck, grinning as she chuckles softly. She's naked and in his bed and beautiful. He'll never get enough of this.<p>

"We should get married," he murmurs into her skin.

"We're not allowed to," Rashidi loves in when she speaks Swahili. He leans over her, pulling her underneath him. He's in love with her. He's so in love with her.

"We should run, then. Say we're free," he says between kisses. Hasina runs her hands down his spine in a a way that makes him shiver uncontrollably. "I could steal some of the papers that we would need to pass as free."

"And what would we do if we were free?" She asks, smiling into his lips.

"Get a house. A job - one that pays. Raise our children together," he murmurs. Hasina surrounds him whole and he bites back a groan. "A boy, then a girl."

"Mmmn..." she moans as he moves, bewitchingly divine. Goddess. His. This is love.

* * *

><p>It happens in the middle of the night. He's running a late night errand for Master Elijah when he here's the sound. It's a clunk, then there's the scrape of metal on metal as the front door opens. A shout of surprise by the man at the door, then a thump.<p>

Rashidi's blood runs cold. Hasina is supposed to be watching over the youngest as Samuel recovered from a fever. She's in the room closest to the stairs. Who's ever breaking in would head there first.

He drops the thing that's in his hand and bolts towards the main entrance. He sees men with swords, but doesn't care, throwing himself in between them and the staircase. Rashidi roars, eyes wide and deadly. His voice makes Hasina poke her head out of the room to investigate. He shouts backs at her to hide as a sword comes down. He ignores how it bites into his shoulder and reaches forward, snapping the man's neck.

The second and third and forth step forwards, grinning viciously and tossing their swords from hand to hand. Rashidi catches some words, like "Shylock" and "Mosshead" and other things that set his blood a boil. There's a bang from behind him and the third man falls to the ground, swearing. Hasina stands at the top of the stairs, a gun in her shaking hands.

"Leave," she shouts at them. She reloads the pistol and aims it back at the invaders. "Leave now, or I shoot you."

"Damn cunt!" The second reached back towards his belt. Rashidi rushed forwards and grabbed his hand, wrestling with him over control over the gun. Another shot went off and Hasina screams, but it's fury not pain and there is the thumping of feet down the stairs and the clunk of metal on bone. Rashidi pulls the pistol from the hands of his assailant and points it directly at him. He doesn't even hesitate as he pulls the trigger.

A few minutes later, Rashidi is surrounded by Master Elijah's family. His arms are around Hasina, who's convinced that she is going back to the market. She shakes in his arms, but doesn't dare cry. Little Samuel comes over and wraps his arms around her waist. He cries in her place.

* * *

><p>Master Elijah calls the two of them to his office the next morning. Hasina mutters under her breath, playing with the hem of her dress. Rashidi reaches out and holds her hand in his. He doesn't want to be sold - no doubt, due to his study frame, he'll be picked for hard labour this time around. The whip is in his future if he goes back there.<p>

They will escape together, just the two of them, if they are sent back. They'll start a family. He'll support her when they do.

"Sit," Master Elijah nods towards a pair of seats that are in front of the desk. Rashidi and Hasina glance at each other in confusion, because this was an honour that no white man had ever been given one of their colour before. To sit, together, at a single table. As equals.

Equals in the fear of persecution.

Master Elijah sighs and rests his head in his hand. After a moment, he looks up, "You saved my son's life."

Hasina jerks in her seat, eyes wide in surprise. The master smiles slightly, "But now I've got a problem. I've got people calling for your execution for wielding a weapon and killing four men."

Rashidi doesn't know what to expect when the man pushes a pair of documents across the table. He shifts in his seat, "What are those?"

"These are your death certificates. They were dates for this morning. I am states as both witness and executioner. It was painless, of course. I am not cruel."

He's confused. Hasina's confused. They're both alive, so what is Master Elijah saying? What is going on?

The man reaches into a drawer and pulls out another two documents. He writes elegantly in words that Rashidi cannot understand. Master Elijah smiles and then sets a purse of coins on the table.

"I'm freeing you," he tells them. Rashidi feels his heart stop. Hasina's hands shake. He doesn't dare hope that this is true. He doesn't dare hope that this is true.

"This," Master Elijah points to the purse, "should be enough to get you two started."

"I - I doesn't understand, sir," Hasina's French slips and she mutters a few words in Swahili. Master Elijah doesn't seem to notice.

"I'm freeing you as thanks for saving my Samuel," he leans forwards. "It's the least that I can do."

Master Elijah gives Rashidi a secret look, almost telling him 'Good luck'. He doesn't know how to take it, but he'll still take it and run.

* * *

><p>It's a hard life. Free or not, it does not change the colour of their skin. It's difficult to get a paying job to the point of being damn near impossible. They scrape by, living out of a small basement room where the landlord charges them twice the normal rent. but they manage.<p>

It's no where near perfect. Rashidi gives up trying to ease enough money to buy a ticket back to his homeland. Even if he did go back, he'd be risking capture the moment he stepped back onto the soil. He couldn't put Hasina through that again.

They marry in a church. To do so, the pair of them must have last names. Neither of them have one, so they take the name of Master Elijah. When the parish priest asks them for their surname, they both answer "Bakura."

It takes about a year before anything happens. Hasina notices the signs first, but only tells hum that she's with child when the morning illness starts. Rashidi's half amazed, half worried out of his mind because he doesn't know if they have enough money to feed another mouth. But it's not as if they can give the child up; it'll be sold into families like Hasina's first master.

The moment Rashidi sees him, though, he knows that they'll - all three of them, will be able to manage.

The baby wiggled and squirmed in Hasina's arms wrapped in the bloodied cloth of her dress. She'd given birth on the streets with no one to help her. It's a miracle she didn't die. Rashidi picks them both up and carries them home.

"What are we going to call him?" He asks gently, speaking in the language of a home that is long gone.

Hasina smiles, "Let's call him Akeifa."

_"Nobody can give you freedom. Nobody can give you equality or justice or anything. If you're a man, you take it."_  
><em>- Malcolm X<em>

* * *

><p><strong>Hello everyone!<strong>

**I'd like to thank those who reviewed for the last chapter: Aqua girl 007, zukofan2005, InsanityByDefinition, and ilovemanicures.**

**I'm so sorry that I've been inactive for so long, but my life has gotten pretty hectic as of late. I've got a job that chews up a bunch of my writing time, so I can't do it as often as I want to. On top of that, I've pretty much _completely_ changed direction in concerns to what I'm going to be studying in post-secondary. I was in the middle of signing up for course when I was hit by a blast of: do I _honestly_ want to do this anymore or am I just forcing myself to continue a dream that's long gone? Not to mention the fact that I was given at least three 'Follow your dreams' speeches in the last few weeks by various people who know me better than I know myself.**

**Anywho, there was a lot of historical information that went into this chapter, so if you have any questions about what is being said or what things are done a certain way, just ask. I may no longer be going into history, but I can definitely answer anything you need answering.**

**Yes, Rashidi and Hasina are Akeifa's parents. I was on a 'Parents' binge a while ago and, on top of mapping out Akeifa's lineage, I also got in Dark God's. I can honestly say that the story of his biological family is the darkest, most depraved thing I've ever come up with. Ever. But what it makes you realize is that he never really had a chance at being normal, even if he hadn't been adopted by Atem.**

**Elijah Bakura is one of Andrew Bakura's paternal ancestors (the name 'Bakura' actually means 'ripe fruit' in Hebrew). I might have told this to a few of you before, but the Bakura family was Jewish up until Bakura's great-grandfather, Ford Bakura, converted to Christianity in order to marry his soon-to-be wife, Winnie Booth. Through Andrew's mother (Angela Bakura nee Atkins), he is related to Game Master's eldest brother's daughter - who survived Atem's assault on their family estate after Game Master's death because she had snuck out of to see a lover. Had see been there, she would have been killed.**

**I'm going to get back into writing again as soon as I can, starting tonight when I'm going to finish off what I've got already for Resurrection. Thank you all for sticking with me and my spontaneous schedule.**

**Until next time,**

**AlcatrazOutpatient**


	10. Swallowing Pride

**The Others: Odd Happenings**

**Disclaimer:** Yu-gi-oh! Duel Monsters is owned by Kazuki Takahashi, Studio Gallop, Nihon Ad Systems, and TV Tokyo. All names were changed to the characters of this fandom in order to protect the real people involved in the following incidents.

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><p><strong>Tenth Page: Swallowing Pride<strong>

"So can I offer you a drink?" She leaned against the kitchen counter, topaz eyes narrowing in suspicion. Her hands twitched towards a drawer where, no doubt, the knives were kept.

**"You know that we don't need to drink. Or eat, for that matter. We've sure you've at heard the stories about us,"** The Abomination sighed. He looked uncomfortably around the small condo. **"We assume that you've been living here for long."**

"Enough small talk; what do you want?"

He glanced up to the side, huffing in annoyance, **"We need a favour."**

"Strange, I don't remember owing you anything. In fact, I don't remember you ever wanting to speak with anyone of my family since you had my entire line butchered," she snapped. Her hair, bright orange and shining in the evening light, swung in front of her face as she leaned forwards, teeth bared. The Abomination flinched and it made her wonder. Her head tilted to the side, intrigued, "Odd. You're not what I expected at all."

**"And what were you expecting?" **He stepped forwards, trying to look intimidating. He planted one hand on each side of her form, pinning her to the counter.

"The great murderer of legend. They say, in the Battle of Avalon, you killed over a thousand of my people, just to avenge your precious whore - "

**"DON'T!" **He yelled, anger bubbling to the surface in a way that it hadn't done in over a thousand years. The Abomination sucked in a breath, calming himself, **"Don't call her that. She was not a...don't. Just don't."**

"Don't? Why? Ashamed? Ashamed that you led her to her death? Ashamed that you were involved with one of us? I've heard stories of your little pet project. Were your precious immortals a present to her? The life you could never give her?" She snarled, "Because look where that got them."

**"You...you wouldn't understand. You weren't there. She wasn't -"**

"Wasn't what? That girl was one of my people through-and-through and just because you could never see it doesn't mean that it wasn't there."

The Abomination pushed himself away from her, walking swiftly to the other side of the room. She smiled cruelly, "So, there he is. The great leader of the humans. You've grown soft."

**"How would you know for our 'softness'? You weren't even born at the time of the Fall."**

"I can see it in you. Your form is dark. They say you were born of light, not this inky blackness that you simply exist as now," she smiled, shaking her head. "How much longer do you have?"

**"Two years. Maybe less,"** he admitted.

"So you're desperate. That's why you're here. Desperate to live. What would she think of you if she saw you now?"

The Abomination looked out the window and a look of such longing passed over that she jolted upright in shock. Never had she expected that reaction out of him.

**"We're not doing it for us. And she'd know that,"** he responded.

"Are you speaking of the traitor or your wife?"

His face softened, **"Both."**

She stepped forwards, eyes hard like stones, "Did you ever care about her?"

**"Which one are you speaking of?"**

"Either."

**"We loved both of them. And if we could feel now, we would say that we still do."**

She stopped, dead in her tracks, "You...you were capable of love?"

**"We were not as heartless as your legends make us out to be,"** he told her. **"We still aren't."**

She swallowed hard, "What. Do. You. Want."

**"A favour."**

"What favour?"

**"You and your people - what's left of them - you know know the Horseman better than anyone else. Especially you. You could help. You could help us win this."**

The Abomination's eyes, ever changing with each instance that one of his children used his powers, stared into her with such a lack of emotion that, had she not known who he was, she would have mistaken for indifference. Instead, she could see the strength inside him and knew that this was what had inspired hundreds of thousands of humans to rise up against her people and fight in his name. It was probably that strength had attracted the traitor to him in the first place, allowing her to be seduced away from her people and into the arms of this failed experiment.

She sighed, "I don't know. Even if I wanted to, there is very little likelihood that they would follow me."

**"Why not?" **He frowned. She gave him a look and rolled her eyes. He shrugged, **"So you're a woman. Your laws say -"**

"It's not about the law anymore, you idiot. We don't have the luxury of having laws anymore. You destroyed the last chance we had when you went back on your word and let the Hittites invade Babylon. We had made our peace with you and you betrayed our trust for one final time," she shouted at the top of her lungs. "Why do you think Dartz got as desperate as he did! If it wasn't for you, he never would have searched out the traitor's mirror image. He never would have brought the Leviathan back!"

**"You don't think we know this?"** The Abomination whipped around, hissing. She saw a bit of the man of legend in his voice and terror ran unwillingly down her spine, **"You think we don't know what our actions caused. Do you want us to admit it, because we will! We made a mistake. Several mistakes. An infinite number of them. But if there is one thing that we gave to our children, it was the ability to learn from our mistakes."** he closed his eyes and breathed for a moment. Then he shrugged, glanced up and looks so young in that moment, **"Better late than never, right?"**

She snorted, "Humans. They are merely the aftershock of your existence. And you shouldn't be here anyways."

**"You don't believe that for a second," **he said it like it was fact, like he knew. She whips around, livid.

"How long have you been spying on me?"

**"You go to school with humans. It is not our fault that we can see what you do with them."**

She rolled her eyes, "And yet you were blind to almost nine thousand years worth of human infighting. Oh right, now I remember why you didn't notice: you were too busy fucking the Greeks and producing demi-gods. You liked that female form of yours back then. Did it remind you of anyone when you touched yourself? Heavenly Sound, maybe? Or -"

**"Do not fault our children for our mistakes," **he growled.

"Daddy was such a bad boy back in those days. Did you whore yourself out to a man named Zeus as many times as the legends say or did you just recreate him over and over again and spread your legs once he got old enough to father children?" She sneered.

**"Do those boys know what you are?" **The Abomination's voice was quiet, not much more than a whisper. She stuttered, stammered at the change of topic.

"They is not up for discussion!"

**"So no, then,"** he tilted his head to the side in inquiry. **"Would you ever tell them?"**

"Stop! Just stop!"

**"You think they are different from other humans. Why? They are human through-and-through; there isn't a single drop of your people's blood in them,"** The Abomination sighed. **"Would you ever tell them just who and what you are?"**

"I told you," she spoke through gritted teeth, "they are not up for discussion!"

**"We're not so different then..."** he glanced off to the side. She looked ready to slap him.

"I am nothing like you!"

**"You will outlive them a thousand times over. As they grows old, you will stay young. People will ask if you are their daughter, then their granddaughter, and then finally their great granddaughter at their funerals. You will not age a day in their mind,"** his voice was stern.

"I'm not going to tell them anything!" She shouted and that shut him up, "I'm taking a page out of Ironheart's book. It's best to say nothing in this situation."

**"What would Ironheart know about loving a human?" **The Abomination frowned.

She gapped. Openly.

"You...you don't know? I mean, that's just - wow. Wow. Were you that oblivious?"

**"Oblivious to what?"**

"Ironheart never loved his wife."

He shrugged, **"It is not your custom to love your partners in marriage. That was to be expected. I am assuming he stayed with your tradition of having lovers on the side."**

"He didn't. He never could stomach the idea of falling in love again," a look of sadness passed over her face, though it was not directed at anyone in the room. "Not after Heavenly Sound died."

The Abomination stepped back, startled,** "He loved her?"**

"He still does. Like a dying man craves water. You seriously never noticed?" She scoffed. "And they say you're omnipotent."

**"He loved her..."** The Abomination seemed to be stuck on that point, his hand covering his mouth - but not in shock. It was something more devious and cunning than shock. She knew what he was thinking.

"Don't you dare," she warned. "Ironheart is old and fragile and weak. Your little prophecy is full of lies and we both know it. You'd never take that kind of risk, the 50/50 chance of your own death. Don't you dare give him false hope in order to further your own cause!"

He muttered something under his breath, but she didn't catch it. He shook his head to clear his thoughts, **"We would never approach Ironheart. He stepped down from the throne. Your people would not listen to him."**

"And you think that they'd listen to me?!"

**"You know why they'd listen to you."**

She laughed, long and hard and maniacal, "We have no throne, you idiot! Just because I'm next in line doesn't mean -"

**"You are not next in line. You are the line. You are all that is left of the line. That throne is yours, however metaphorical it may be. You are the first Queen of your people. They will listen to you!"**

"Just leave us alone! Haven't you done enough?" She was on the verge of tears.

**"If we die, anyone with human blood will go with us. That means any half-breeds your people have produced. That means the boys you're so fond of."**

Her heart stopped. Her breathing stopped. For one single moment, she felt death clamp a hand on her shoulder and pulled. She pushed him off, knowing that there was nothing for her if she didn't fight. But even so, they both knew that she'd lost this round to the abomination.

"That was low, even for you," she whispered.

**"We are desperate. Desperate enough to talk to you. Desperate enough to take a 50/50 chance,"** The Abomination shrugged. He produced a slip of paper from his pocket and slid it onto the kitchen table. **"Any information on his whereabouts would be appreciated. Send it to that address. They know it is coming."**

He paused, looked at her with changing eyes filled with pity, **"He's not your father anymore."**

"I never once laid eyes on my father," her voice was barely audible.

And with that, he disappeared.

She didn't make a move to grab it. Instead she sat down at the table and stared at the slip for a while. Her breath hitched, once, then twice, before the tears began to fall and the weight of the burden she'd been carrying her entire life defended upon her in one fell swoop.

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><p><strong>Hello again!<strong>

**I'd like to thank those who reviewed for the last page: zukofan2005, Aqua girl 007, InsanityByDefinition, and ilovemanicures.**

**If you didn't guess already, 'The Abomination' was Magic and the mysterious girl he was talking to was a surviving member of the Ancients. Most of the Ancient people that are still existing in The Others series present timeline are half-breeds, meaning that they come from both a human and Ancient family, usually with more human in them than Ancient. There are very few of them left, as over the years, they have died out or been killed by humans over the years that Magic was completely inattentive towards the going-ons of the world. The girl here is actually the last pure blood Ancient to ever be born.**

**A few other things were revealed in this page about Magic. One: he's got a female form. This is a given, considering that he is 'humanity' and humanity is made up of both males and females. He still considers himself to be male, regardless of which form he is in.**

**Two: he's had relationships with people who weren't Heavenly Sound or Amane, one of which was with an Ancient woman. Magic, if he were to put a label on himself, considers himself to be pansexual (attracted to human beings of all gender identities and biological sexes). Though, like Atem, he has been attracted to non-humans before (he's had a few flings with some Shadow Creatures as well as with this Ancient woman), so he's probably more omni than anything else.**

**All I'm saying about his relationship with the Ancient woman known as The Traitor is that things went terribly, horribly _wrong_.**

**I'm going to be posting another page up here if I have time tomorrow, so I guess I will see you all then.**

**Until next time,**

**AlcatrazOutpatient**


	11. Twenty Secrets

**The Others: Odd Happenings**

**Disclaimer:** Yu-gi-oh! Duel Monsters is owned by Kazuki Takahashi, Studio Gallop, Nihon Ad Systems, TV Tokyo and 4Kids Entertainment. All names were changed to the characters of this fandom in order to protect the real people involved in the following incidents.

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><p><strong>Eleventh Page: Twenty Secrets<strong>

(1) Duke Devlin is almost an Other. Magic changes his mind about six minutes before his mother goes into labour and crosses out his previous note in the boy's Life Book with a thin straight line. It is because of this that Duke has such green eyes; there are one shade darker than he would need in order to use the same powers his friend Bakura does.

If asked, Magic would respond that he changed the boy's fate because he doesn't need to draw any more attention to Domino City than was needed. Having a pair of Others that went to the same school would do something like that. Instead, he lets Rex Raptor and Weevil Underwood find one another - solely on a whim.

(2) The Ishtars are the descendants of Pharaohs. Ishizu, Marik, and their father hold ties to the same man that looks over the city of Cairo in the form of a Sphinx: Khufu. Odion comes from a long line of men and women that can trace their roots back to the Great Pharaoh Ramses.

But being a descendant of the Pharaohs means that they also have within them the thing that sent their ancestors apart from other humans: Ancient blood. At one point in their history, the Ishtars (both adopted and not) had a common family member. This woman's name was Isis and she looked almost exactly like Ishizu does today.

(3) Joseph Wheeler, father of both Joey and Serenity, can predict the future - sort of. Every so often, he gets 'feelings' about things that has yet to come. The first time he sees the girl who would eventually become his wife, he knows that she is going cause him both great pain and great joy. The first time he meets Duke Devlin, he knows that that boy will be his son-in-law one day. The first time he hears about Yugi Mutuo on the television, he knows that she is important.

This is because Joseph's paternal grandfather was a True Seer. The descendants of an Other may be different from most people, though not in the sense that they won't be Normals, but that they may have some extra ordinary ability that set them apart.

These sorts of things seem to skip a generation, so while Serenity does not possess her father's ability, her daughter Hope does. Bakura's grandchildren, if he ever has any, would be able to sense the presence of spirits and will always feel strangely calm in graveyards at midnight.

(4) Mai Valentine was a late bloomer. Up until her fifteenth year, she is a scrawny little thing that had more bones than muscle on her frame. With her zit-infested face, non-existent chest, out of control hair, and _the most horrific set of braces on the face of the earth_, it is little wonder why she doesn't seem particularly striking to anyone she is interested in. More over, it is a particularly difficult time in her life as she just admitted to herself that she is bisexual - up until that point, she'd been completely convinced of her own homosexuality and the thought of liking a boy had been a total surprise to her. It doesn't help that the guy turned her down.

Then, quite literally over the summer, the dentist removes the metal from her teeth, she discovers a shampoo that actually works for her, and hits her growth spurt all at the same time. She begins to actually fit into her clothing and can walk around in heels without tripping over them. To put it frankly, this does _wonders_ for Mai's self esteem.

So when she returns to her high school and the very boy who'd rejected her only two months previous works up the courage to ask her out, she laughs and thinks back the same words he'd told her and repeats them right back, "Sorry, babe. But I can do way better than you."

Needless to say, she does when she shacks up with Vivian Wong a few years later. But that's another story.

(5) In the years that she lives on the streets - in the time after her parents and before Seto - Kisara Bleu is employed by an escort service that caters to a very particular group of customers. Namely, those who don't want to be bogged down by the law concerning sixteen being the age of sexual consent. Her pimp sells her virginity to a man in his late fifties for a hundred bucks. She wants to cry, but can't because while she is terrified about what is happening to her, Kisara fears letting _her_ loose even more.

The only time she kills anyone on the job is the day she meets Seto Kaiba. Her John decides to bring along a group of friends to the hotel and it scares her so much that _she_ escapes _her_ binds. Seto, who just happens to be walking by, hears their screams and bounds up the fire escape in order to investigate. He arrives just in time to see _her_ rip the final man's head off.

Seto will never admit it to anyone, but that is the first time in his life that he'd ever felt turned on in any way.

(6) Despite his tendency for senseless violence, his massive god-complex, and down right horrifying set of fangs, Dark God is probably the gentlest lover in all of existence. That being said, the only person he'd ever consider being with is Atem, so if anyone were to attempt to seduce him, they would meet a very quick end via the sharp blade of Mr. Pointy.

Another fun fact about the guy: where as most children slept with dolls and toys, Dark God Bakura had his axe.

(7) Ryou Bakura is, in one way or another, related to each and every one of the spirits. Granted, most of them are in an incredibly roundabout way, but the connection does exist.

Ipiktok, the brother of Thief King Bakura, is the ancestor of Bakura and Amane's material aunt via marriage. Through his second son, Touzoku is related to Natsuki's mother. The daughter of Game Master's eldest brother produced a line of children that included Andrew's mother, while the former slave owner of Akeifa's parents has ties to the man's father. Soul Steeler had a cousin that is related to one of Andrew's many second cousins. And finally, Dark God's eldest sister escaped the wrath of her cult-like family and has descendants in the form of Natuski's aunt.

Bakura the King Killer shares a common ancestor with all of the spirits as well as Ryou Bakura: Leonardo, the first child of Magic and Heavenly Sound and the first Other to ever be born.

(8) If there was ever a single Ancient that Magic trusted whole-heartedly, it is the lead scientist on the project that created him. This man practically raises Magic - teaching him to walk and talk and eat, providing him with clothing and a place to sleep. To this day, Magic fondly refers to that man as Father. In fact, Magic shifts his shape (in a way that the Leviathan would later use to copy Heavenly Sound) into a white-haired replica of a younger version of this man. Upon seeing this, the man promptly calls him 'son'.

Of course, this displeases King Raa greatly and he orders the man's execution as well as Magic's imprisonment in the castle in which he was born. Magic never finds out that his father is killed, though news of the man's death reaches him about fifty years after the event. This inspires him to create someone who would keep him company in his workshop.

Magic's father's name is Bakura and it is no coincidence that Bakura the King Killer shares that name.

(9) Most people who have met Ryou Bakura believe that the reason he primarily goes by his surname is because he is rejecting his mother's culture. It's not difficult to see why they think that: when asked, he always says that he doesn't like being called Ryou because it's a Japanese name and he isn't Japanese. Those that are aware of his status of an Other sometimes think that it is actually a rejection of his mother entirely after her abandonment of him as a child. Others, often the more optimistic of people, think that he's actually embracing his father and his father's culture by taking on the man's surname as his given. Those that know about the spirits in the back of his mind or his original life think that it's simply bleed over from his previous lives - they are named Bakura, so it is obvious that he would prefer to be called Bakura as well.

All these theories are wrong

It's not bleed over, as it was a conscious and very personal choice of his to be called as such (Touzoku and Akeifa preferred their birth names over their family names, remember?). Bakura is in no way embracing his father, because he's never had or wanted a father-figure in his entire life. He doesn't remember the time when his mother actually cared for his well being and he's honestly not that against his Japanese heritage.

It's a rejection of Amane. Bakura only started going by that name after his move to America, after her abandonment of him in a mixture of shower water and the scent of alcohol lingering on her skin. He takes on his surname in the years that he falls completely silent to the living and, even though he is talking now, still continues on with this tradition.

Because Bakura's not over it. He'll never be over it.

(10) Bakura's love map is messed up. It's all Magic's fault, of course, but it is very, very messed up. It is because of this that he stops talking when he turned thirteen, because frankly, he is so traumatized that he actually represses the memory of what happened so deeply into his mind that even Pegasus would be hard pressed to find it.

A love map is a psychological term for the particular physical characteristics one finds attractive. Usually, a person has one 'map'. Bakura has two; one that describes Atem (complements of his Life Book dictating that he is only capable of romantically loving her) and one that describes Amane (complements of his sister becoming the number one person in his life at the age of three).

Having an Abnormal for a sister means that Bakura's body is synced with Amane's. It also means that, because females enter puberty at a younger age than males, Amane's hormones force his body to develop at the same time as hers. On a slightly off topic note, that means while when the earliest of Bakura's male year mates started going through puberty, _he is already_ _done_.

The memory in question is actually a dream. More specifically, it is a wet dream. Even more specifically, it is Bakura's first and it involves a girl that constantly shifts forms. One minute she looks like Atem, the next, she is Amane. When he wakes up his sheets are wet and sticky and his limbs are tingling in a way that he's never experienced before.

Frankly, this scared the shit out of him for a whole lot of reasons. The two most frightening of said reasons is, one, he'd just dreamt of having sex with his sister and she'd abandoned him because she'd never cared and - he cuts himself off that line of thinking really, really quickly because it's going into places that he doesn't want to admit exist. And the second reason, well...he doesn't recognize her at all the first time, but the next time Atem shows up in his dreams _she is five years old_.

So not only did Bakura think that he is a sick pervert, but a pedophile as well. Needless to say, it scars him so deeply that he cuts himself off from the living and refuses to interact with anyone at all and swears never to think about it again. And he never does.

(11) Over the course of her first year at Atlantis, Mana helps one of her Normal classmates to break free of her addiction to cocaine. It's a very difficult process, as she's away for two weeks at a time and can't steel the girl's stash while she's off learning about her powers. But when she's at home in Tampa Bay, Mana breaks into the girl's home via her bedroom window and takes the little packets of white powder out from the shoe box under her bed. She throws it into the ocean when she gets the chance and has a little laugh about how the fish are probably seeing rainbows in the water because of her.

Mana gets caught once. For her one phone call, she tearily dials up Marik's number from lock up and explains what she's done. He's by her side the instant after she hangs up in a swirl of black smoke. He breaks her out, modifies the memories of her arresting officers, and deletes her 'infraction' from her record. Mana is surprised that she doesn't kiss him right then and there. They spend the rest of the evening on the beach, watching the sun go down next to each other and he works up the courage to hold her hand.

Marik's hands are shaking and sweaty and his breath is short and hitched, but he fights against his phobia with all his might and Mana thinks that him doing that for her is more meaningful then candlelit dinners and trips around the world.

The girl never figures out who it was that was stealing her drugs, but thanks them every night for the rest of her life regardless.

(12) Dartz's mother, Venus, cut him from her womb in the seventh month of her pregnancy. She goes mad after Mu falls and Ironheart has to have her locked away in the dungeon of the newly built Babylon. Knowing just what her son is - cursed by the very abomination that murdered her family and people - she claws at her swollen belly until her bleeds and eventually reaches into herself to pull him out. Somehow, she doesn't manage to utter a single sound throughout the entire process.

The guards are alerted to what she'd done when they hear the cry of an infant coming from her cell. They find her bloodied body, intestines falling out of her stomach, and an infant boy balling in the opposite corner. The umbilical cord looks like it had been ripped apart in order to separate mother from son.

Ironheart never remarries, but then again, he never really wanted to marry Venus in the first place. He cares for Dartz the best way he can: he hires a nanny to do most of the raising. Dartz grows up listening to stories about a world that was stolen from him and a mother who never wanted him. Is there any doubt as to why this prince of an overthrown family went to such desperate lengths in order to take back what he believed was rightfully his?

(13) The first person Joey comes out to completely out of his own free will is his father. It's about four months after the attack in Domino City and he and Joseph are sitting together in from of the TV. The game's on, Joey's got a half-empty beer in hand and Joseph's nursing a diet soda (he hasn't touched the bottle in fifteen years and he's not going to start now). In between the two of them yelling at the referee through the screen and cheering for their team, Joey just says, "Dad, I'm gay."

The man pauses, turns his head slowly towards his son. He's shocked because, frankly, while he can sort of, kind of, maybe tell the future occasionally, that's the _last_ answer that anyone would expect to the question, "Who do you think is going to win the Superbowl this season?" But as the information sinks in and Joseph realizes that despite everything, Joey still needs confirmation that he loves him after his admission.

"Okay," he nods and smiles brightly.

"Okay?" Joey repeats, slightly unsure.

"Okay," Joseph says again.

His son grins to himself, throat bobbing as the tension in his body is released, "Okay."

It's the first step in a long way that Joey still has to complete acceptance towards himself, but the first step is always the most important. Without it, the other ones can't truly be taken.

(14) Mokuba cannot feel much of anything. He can act like he does, that's for sure, but in the reality, the ability to feel emotion is something that he's never had in his entire life. He pretends to be happy, pretends to be worried, pretends to feel love and compassion for his mother and his brother, but at the end of the day, he does that because it's what sociably acceptable.

He doesn't think Atem caused it, because he has some rather vague memories of a time before her where he is exactly the same as now. Mokuba believes that the car crash that took the lives of his parents, something was 'knocked loose' in his head and made him what he is today. However, he knows that Atem knows about his sociopathy and worked to turn it into an advantage for him.

So he doesn't blame Atem for it. In fact, he would say that he's glad for her training because without it, he would be like Yubel and incapable of functioning.

That being said, Mokuba can't feel joy, so he might not be telling to complete truth about how 'glad' he actually is.

(15) The first time that Duke sees Serenity naked, it is a total accident. Honestly, he should have knocked and it's all his fault (except for the part where she failed to mention that the bathroom of her family's apartment didn't have functioning locks), but he can't help but think somewhere in his mind that it's one of the best damn moments of his entire life.

It's about six months into their relationship and at that point, neither of them have made the move indicating that they want to go any further than first base. For once, Duke is content with not rushing into things, so accidentally walking in on Serenity as she is wrapping a towel around her very wet, very naked, very I-just-hopped-out-of-the-shower-don't-I-smell-_good_ body nearly gives him a heart attack. The following shriek of surprise and dropping of said towel makes him develop a serious case of tunnel vision. Duke does the only (in)sane thing to do at that moment in time and turns around, muttering apologies. He's about to walk out of the room entirely and go jump in a hopefully freezing cold river when Serenity stops him in his tracks by gently touching his wrist.

The next thing he knows, Duke has her up against the slick bathroom wall and he's kissing her like he's going to die in the next three seconds. He breathes into her mouth and tells her just how badly he wants her and when Serenity _moans_ in response he's half tempted to go down on her _right then and there_. A few minutes later, as he drops to his knees in front of her, he decides that temptation is a wonderful, wonderful thing and he should give into it more often.

The two of them are a little bit awkward around each other for the next week and a bit, mainly because they can't look either other in the eye without blushing like school girls. Finally, Serenity blurts out that she'd thought it was unfair that she'd been the only one naked. After Duke's mind starts to work again, he responds that she could change that any time she wished.

(16) While the relationship between Bakura the King Killer and Princess Atem of Tikal may look romantic from one perspective, it is difficult to say that most of their story is based around actual, true love. One must take into account that they are, in essence, a pair of players in Magic's gigantic role playing game, acting out a life that he was never able to give to The Traitor.

Bakura and Atem never had the choice of who they would fall in love with - their love for each other is forced upon them. They are physically incapable of romantically loving anyone else, when there are probably a lot of better candidates out there for partners. But because Magic dictated it to be so, they turned to each other.

However, in the moments before the Cut Off, when Bakura's soul is falling apart at the seems but he still stands up and fights Magic for the thing that would keep him by her side, when Atem shatters the hold Fate had over her and preformed the spell that would bring him back to her completely against Magic's wishes while in excruciating pain – that is when they truly fell in love with each other. No outside influence could ever have impacted them so greatly then what they did for each other that night.

(17) Magic is an accident. The Ancients never mean to create him. He is merely a bi-product of a mistake during one of their experiments with negative space. For the first ten years of his life, he is nothing more than a disembodied consciousness that watches the scientists try to understand just what it is that is making the anomalies in their data. Eventually, they realize that they are the result of him attempting to say hello to them.

When he finally builds up enough energy to take on physical form for the first time, Magic is but a ball of light that trails around after the lead scientist, Bakura, occasionally making comments and attempting to read words on papers over the man's shoulder. Eventually, he creates arms and legs for himself before finally taking something resembling the man's form.

But Magic never forgets that his entire existence is based on the fact that one of the younger researchers was eating his lunch at his desk and a small sandwich crumb made it's way into the device creating negative space, disrupting the constant flow of energy for just a second and allowing the impossible to happen.

In a way, one of his reasons for disliking the Leviathan initially is that she happened on purpose. Ironically, the Leviathan's jealousy of Magic stems from the fact that because he is created by accident, he has no expectations to live up to.

(18) Though this might not be much of surprise (or maybe it will), Rex and Weevil _have_ actually kissed each other before. It's an experiment to see if they were even capable of being sexually attracted to one another.

It is awkward as hell to say the least and cumulates with Rex attempting to gargle soap and Weevil locking himself on a closet for the better part of an hour. After Weevil emerges into the light and Rex stops hiccupping bubbles, they grab their Magic: The Gathering decks and settle down for a battle of epic proportions via a card game.

Half way through, Weevil throws down his hand and yells, "Why the fuck aren't we gay?!"

Rex looks up, raises an eyebrow, and gazes at his best friend from under his shaggy hair, "Because life sucks and then you die. I thought you would have figured that out by now."

"We need a girl," Weevil groans and picks up his cards. "Some one who'll, ya know, not mind us. Both of us."

"Like that'll ever happen," Rex snorts. "Face it, man. We're going to die alone."

Oh, how wrong they are.

(19) In another lifetime, Ryou and Amane Bakura could have made it work between them – at least, for a while.

If Amane had just stayed calm enough after the revelation that she and Ryou were siblings and _asked_ him if it were true, she would have admitted – amongst tears and trembling hands – her love for him, knees hiding her face as she wept under the covers of her bed. Ryou would be shocked, no doubt about it, but after about a week of mulling it over would pull his sister aside one day at school and kiss her in a small alcove between two lockers.

Ryou would have someone to share his fears with when he started to develop his magic and Amane would have to convince him of his own sanity. She would never become friends with Tea and the others upon the Bakura family's move to America, as the two siblings were lost in their own world. They'd lose their virginities to each other in the eleventh grade in a night of fumbling awkwardness and absolutely red faces, but in the morning, they would both be wearing smiles on their faces.

However, the two would begin to drift apart as Ryou attended Atlantis, gaining friends and meeting Atem for the first time. Amane would, surprisingly, be the one to break it off, claiming that she's cheated on him in her dreams with this 'weird carbon copy' of him with white eyes and a pluralistic voice. He wouldn't really understand that bit until much later in his life, but Ryou would admit his growing feelings for Atem as well as his concern that their relationship wouldn't be considered acceptable _anywhere_ and that they had no future together.

The two would always remain close, as they do in this lifetime, but because they never connected with Duke, Serenity, Joey, Tristan, Tea, and Miho, they'd both be ripped to pieces at the hands of a Gigas the night of their prom. Atem would never be seen again after that night. No one would know what happened to her.

Two years later, the Leviathan would succeed in her quest to kill Magic. No one of human decent would survive, so she would turn on the final surviving Ancients, then the animals, and finally the plants until their was no one left. In the end, the Leviathan would cannibalize herself and die a slow and painful death, cursing her creators and Magic with her last breath. The earth would eventually be consumed by the sun, but no one would care because it was a lifeless hunk of rock.

So in the end, it was a good thing that Amane lost her cool that night.

(20) In the time between their 'release' from the hospital to the day of their graduation (with the exception of Serenity), Duke and his friends have to face the horror that is going back to Domino High School. After having their world rocked by the revolution that magic exists, that Ryou Bakura is an unsung hero, and that Amane is still alive, they are barely able to function as they had in the days previous to 'The Incident.'

Duke gets more detentions in the month of June than he has in his entire academic carrier for back talking to teachers. It gets so bad that the administration just gives up and deems him a lost cause.

Tea actually starts a fight with three boys and, to everyone's surprise, _wins_ when they call Amane a slut for supposedly letting her freak brother fuck her. No one knows whether she is defending Amane's or Bakura's honour, though no one really would mind if it was both.

Serenity simply stops talking to her classmates because they could never understand what she knows to be truth and never will. She writes an article that gets published in the school newspaper about how people are sheep and believe only what they are told.

Joey skips most of his classes and sits and talks in the graveyard like Bakura used to. While he can't see any spirits, he knows they are there and wants to keep them company while the only person who could talk to them is away.

And Miho? Miho gets expelled for carrying a firearm on campus. No one, to this day, knows how and where she got it, but she can shoot the leaves off of trees with the tiny, little pistol like it's nobodies business.

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><p><strong>Hello again!<strong>

**I'd like to thank those who reviewed for the last chapter: InsanityByDefinition and ilovemanicures.**

**I know, I know. No updates for a month and then three in two days. But hey, stranger things have happened, right?**

**Hopefully you guys like this. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, let me know and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.**

**Until next time,**

**AlcatrazOutpatient**


	12. Yami Marik and Namu Ishtar

**The Others: Odd Happenings**

**Disclaimer:** Yu-gi-oh! Duel Monsters is owned by Kazuki Takahashi, Studio Gallop, Nihon Ad Systems, and TV Tokyo. All names were changed to the characters of this fandom in order to protect the real people involved in the following incidents.

**Warning:** This is a fandom essay and includes several references to AlcatrazOutpatient's own theories and opinions.

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><p><strong>Twelfth Page: Yami Marik and Namu Ishtar<strong>

**Table of Contents  
><strong>1 - Introduction  
>2 – Marik Ishtar, the Perfect Candidate for DID<br>3 – Implications for Yami Marik  
>4 – Connections to Namu Ishtar<br>5 – Conclusion  
>6 - Works Cited<p>

**1 - Introduction**

In the fifth chapter of my story _The Others: The Second Year_, a new character is formally introduced. This character, known as Namu Ishtar, is described as being based off of Yami Marik of Kazuki Takahashi's _Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters_. However, despite their similarities in appearance, there appears to be several differences in personality between the two characters. So how are the two connected, if at all?

In the following essay, I will be describing the creation of Yami Marik, as well as showing how both Namu and Yami Marik share many similarities. By delving into the life of the canon Marik Ishtar (referred throughout this essay as Marik Ishtar or simply Marik) and the lifestyle and culture of the Tombkeepers, it becomes clear that Namu Ishtar is what Yami Marik could have been under different circumstances.

**2 - Marik Ishtar, the Perfect Candidate for DID**

Identified by many sources, Marik Ishtar suffers from Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) and has two distinct personality: himself as the original and the alter, Yami Marik (Jackson). He fits the profile of someone who has the mental disease almost exactly.

Formerly known as multiple personality disorder (MPD), DID is a mental illness that is defined by a specific set of major characteristics. The most important and relevant to this argument is that the person must have at least two or more distinct personalities existing within one person, with each personality being dominant (in control) at different times. DID is caused, in the majority of cases, by childhood trauma. The theory is that, in order to deal with this trauma, which must be both extreme and prolonged, a child will create an alternate personality known as an alter to compartmentalize and thus deal with the ongoing trauma. The original personality is usually unaware of the other personality unless specifically informed of it and control of the body can be switched between alters by triggers that are related to the trauma in some way – at least, in the patient's mind. In many cases, the original personality does not recall what happens when the alters are in control ("National Alliance of Mental Illness").

Marik's childhood was in no way the idealized environment that someone should be raised in. He was locked underground in a tomb and forced into a life that he did not want by his oppressive father who took utter joy in _whipping_ his children as a punishment ("Yu-Gi-Oh! Wikia"). The rigid way of life that he was forced into coupled with this cruelty by his father would be enough to result in some form of mental issue. Combined with the large likelihood that, after three to five thousand years (depending on whether one is referring to the english dubbed anime or the original Japanese anime/manga) his family has become incredibly inbred, it is a miracle that Marik is _only_ known to suffer from DID.

As DID is caused by a child being unable to deal with a trauma that occurs, it is difficult to pin point the exact time in which Marik would have created Yami Marik. The most common and popularized theory is that Marik's alter was created during the ritual known as the Tomb Keeper Initiation – where his father carved (or, in the english dub, tattooed) the secret of the Nameless Pharaoh into his back. However, there another possible part of the boy's life where he would have experienced incredible trauma: when Marik was bitten by a snake.

While most snakes currently in Egypt are harmless, it is clear that the one bites Marik is poisonous. It is appears to be a kind of cobra, most likely the Egyptian cobra – a snake who's venom consists of neurotoxins that attack the nervous system. If left untreated, the Egyptian cobra's venom will stop nerve signals from being transmitted from the brain, resulting in eventual respiratory failure ("Ancient Africa's Black Kingdoms"). Marik was very young when he was first bitten, far to young to be able to truly comprehend his own impending death. On top of that, Odion is seen (in the Japanese anime, as it is censored by 4Kids from the English dub for being too violent) holding a knife over Marik, preparing to kill him for taking away his opportunity to become a true Tomb Keeper. This might have been the trauma that induced the creation of Yami Marik, the connection between Odion and his own death.

**3 – Implications for Yami Marik**

So what does this mean for Yami Marik? If he was in fact formed prior to the Tomb Keeper initiation, it could also mean that he _surfaced_ and became the dominant personality before this event took place. Yami Marik does not consider himself to be a different personality to the original Marik. In fact, the name Yami Marik comes from the fandom as he believes that he actually _is_ Marik. For the ease of identifying the two characters, many fans of the show call them Malik and Marik; however, if they were to be completely true to the characters, people would address them by _the same name_.

Using this information, it becomes clear that if Yami Marik was formed during or after Marik's unfortunate encounter with an Egyptian cobra, his original personality was either quite similar or almost exactly the same as Marik's own – to the point where neither Odion or Ishizu could tell the difference between the two (they only acknowledge Yami Marik's existence after the death of their father).

Insanity comes into Yami Marik's personality during the Tomb Keeper initiation. Remembering that switches between alters and the original personality are triggered by events that are somehow relatable to the original event that created the alter, it is easy to say that Yami Marik surfaced during the initiation. Seeing as how the ritual would have nearly killed Marik from the pain alone, not to mention the amount of blood that he must have lost, and the fact that Odion had failed to convince his father to take his place, a connection would have been made and Yami Marik was brought forth. It is unknown just how much of the ritual Yami Marik was forced to endure, but it was enough to change his personality and psyche from someone who could blend in perfectly with Marik to the being that he is known as in _Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters_.

To put it frankly, while Yami Marik was a result of Marik's DID, he is actually suffering from a mental illness as well. It appears to be a combination of a psychosis (aka a psychotic break) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). After being drawn into the world and then tortured, he's traumatized and acting out. What also needs to be taken into account is the trauma that first created Yami Marik: Marik's own fear of dying. While he is mostly remembered for being a sadist and incredibly cruel towards his opponents, the one thing that Yami Marik fears above all is his own death. As most people suffering from PTSD are unable to cope or deal with their traumas, Yami Marik forces his fear onto other people, which comes out in the form of his sadistic dueling style ("WedMD"). When finally confronted with the end in the form of Marik, the original personality, Yami Marik begs for life because dying is his ultimate fear – it was why he was born and what drove him over the edge.

It is also quite likely that Yami Marik didn't die in his final battle against the Pharaoh. What took place in that duel, especially with Marik, was very similar to the treatments that therapists use to help those with DID. Marik became aware of his alter and what he did to his family. Marik also came to terms with just what happened to him as a child. Instead of rejecting it, he comes to terms with these events and eventually accepts them. When treating DID patients, therapists do just that and it often results in the alters becoming one with the original personality. That means that Yami Marik is not dead and gone, but part of Marik once more.

**4 – Connections to Namu Ishtar**

The first connection that Namu has to Yami Marik is his name. Namu, or Nam in the Singapore dub, is the false name that Marik gives to Joey and Tea in order to get close to them and use the Millennium Rod to brainwash them. Joey, Tea, and the rest of the gang believe that Namu (as well as the front Marik puts up) are real. Yami Marik believes himself to be the real Marik, but isn't – he is an alter, something that the real Marik created in order to deal with his past.

Namu Ishtar of _The Others: The Second Year_ can relate to this because of his physical appearance. He looks like an older, more disheveled version of Marik, his paternal cousin. But at the same time, he isn't Marik. There is something that is fundamentally different about him that makes him just recognizable enough to Ryou Bakura, who knows that it is not possible for his best friend to be in the driver's seat. This can relate to how Yami Marik's original personality before he was tortured into insanity. There was probably a difference in how Yami Marik and the original Marik would have reacted to the world, though it was so small that unless you were looking for it or knew the person well enough to notice it, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Bakura knows what he is looking for in Marik and the differences between the two cousins is obvious enough to him.

Namu's connections to Yami Marik also continue into his work as an inventor. In the original Japanese version, Yami Marik does not have a real end game to his plans: he simply wants to kill and destroy. His intention to kill Yugi and the Pharaoh is either bleed over from Marik's thoughts surrounding that pair or it is he simply acknowledging them as the biggest challenge in the room. In the English dub, he wants to take over the world, though he has no reason to do this.

Unlike Yami Marik, Namu has not has his mind warped by circumstances. Before being picked up by the Resistance, he created many new pieces of technology; however, what he lacked as a purpose. He did it because he wanted to, not because he needed to. It was for the simple joy of inventing that drives him to do what he does, like Yami Marik who kills because he wants to. The main difference between the two is that Namu was later given a purpose and a goal that he can work towards, instead of scrambling around for one. And even then, Namu's reasons for joining up with who he did are personal; if he himself hadn't been effected, he would have simply walked the other way.

What really connects them is their intelligence. There is no doubt in my mind that Yami Marik is an incredibly strategist. However, unlike many of his fellow duelists, his strength does not reside completely in that of his cards. Yami Marik combines his abilities as a duelist with his complex knowledge of the human psyche. He chooses the right words and actions at the right time to fool or trick an opponent that would normally be able to out maneuver him into believing that they had lost. Namu does just this went confronted with Sherry LeBlanc of the FBI, tricking her by lulling her into a false sense of security while he knows full well that he could kill her at a moments notice. Namu knows how to phrase his words so that people believe him to be nothing more than what he wants them to see.

Yami Marik isn't all-powerful; in fact, on dueling abilities alone, Mai would have been able to defeat him. His mind is what set him on a different level than she was, by thinking outside the box and not using the preferred method of combat between duelists: simply using their cards. Like Yami Yugi's duel against PaniK during the Duelist Kingdom arc, Yami Marik thinks outside the box and that is what helps him to win. Namu does not use or rely on magic. He does not see it as the end-all-be-all answer to the world's problems. He does not see himself as being at a disadvantage for being a Normal. Instead, like his canon counterpart, he uses what assets he has to his advantage and makes a name for himself using that.

But the most important thing to remember is their personalities: how they are surprisingly calm people. Yami Marik, outside of his intimidation tactics, is a rather composed individual. It takes a lot to make him truly _panic_; in fact, the only times where he's genuinely been terrified was when he feared for his own life. The most obvious of that is just before Marik retakes his body. The conditions for a DID induces transfer of personalities, from alter back to original, are obvious in this scene, and the idea of him no longer being in control terrifies him. Odion is there and the stink and fear of his _own_ death surround Yami Marik. This scares him more than anything in the world, leaving the formally collective being that he is to _beg for his own life to be spared_.

Namu is calm, almost to the point where he seems slightly apathetic. When driving away in an escape vehicle, being chased by the police, he doesn't freak out. When confronted by an FBI agent who is looking for the two fugitives that are hiding in his basement, he doesn't bat an eye. In fact, he even goes ahead and _offers her a slice of pizza_. However, Namu has been described to us by the Bakura of the future to be able to put someone's head on a platter and do it with a smile on his face. There are Yami Marik's infamous intimidation tactics right there, combined with a throw-back reference to the scene in the manga where Yami Marik's head was actually removed from his body. Namu has a floor that can incinerate people – if that doesn't display a hint of sadism, I don't know what will.

**5 – Conclusion**

Namu Ishtar, though at first appearing to quite different from his canon counterpart, in fact shows many similarities to that of Yami Marik. While many of the insane tendencies that are associated with Yami Marik are watered down, they still expressed in Namu's semi-sadistic nature concerning the weapons he manufactures. His manipulative abilities rival that of Yami Marik's skill to utterly terrify more powerful opponents into submission. Their reasons for fighting their battles are mirror images of one another and the unconscious references to the 'false Marik' litter the words of _The Others: The Second Year_. While these two characters come from different backgrounds, they are one and the same when it comes to who they are on a fundamental level.

**6 – Works Cited**

"Egyptian Cobra." _Ancient Africa's Black Kingdoms_. wysinger, n.d. Web. 22 Aug 2012. . .

Jackson, H. "Behind The Voice Actors - Voice Compare: Yu-Gi-Oh! - Marik Ishtar." _Behind The Voice Actors_. BTVA, December 9th, 2009. Web. 22 Aug 2012. voice-compare/Yu-Gi-Oh/Marik-Ishtar/.

"Mr. Ishtar - Yu-Gi-Oh!." _Yu-Gi-Oh! Wikia_. , n.d. Web. 22 Aug 2012. wiki/Mr._Ishtar.

"NAMI | Dissociative Identity Disorder (formerly Multiple Personality Disorder." _National Alliance of Mental Illness_. NAMI, March 2000. Web. 22 Aug 2012. Content/ContentGroups/Helpline1/Dissociative_Identity_Disorder_(formerly_Multiple_Personality_Disorder).htm.

"Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)." _WebMD_. WebMD, n.d. Web. 22 Aug 2012. anxiety-panic/guide/post-traumatic-stress-disorder.

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><p><strong>Hey guys!<strong>

**I'd like to thank those who reviewed for the last page: Aqua girl 007, InsanityByDefinition, and VivienneLaFaye.**

**There are days when I like to laugh at the ironies of my life. I found out over the course of the last year that if a prof assigns me a 700 word essay, it takes several gruelling weeks to complete, filled with complains about how writing essays is practically slave labour. However, if it is a fandom related essay, I'm more along the lines of "2000 words? It needs another 500, at least."**

**In all seriousness, while I hate writing school essays, a friend of mine once jokingly challenged me to write a one page essay on how Chell escaped Aperture Labs at the end of Portal. The next day, I handed him an eleven page character analysis/fandom essay complete with title page, table of contents, and works cited. He gave me a cookie, but had the oddest look on his face while doing it. It was a cross between amazement and utter horror.**

**Totally worth it, though.**

**So here is my way of explaining how Namu and Yami Marik are connected. I think I've covered all the bases, but if you think I missed something, please tell me. This is an essay, of course, and they are meant to be critiqued.**

**Until next time,**

**AlcatrazOutpatient**


	13. The Order of D'Lua

**The Others: Odd Happenings**

**Disclaimer:** Yu-gi-oh! Duel Monsters is owned by Kazuki Takahashi, Studio Gallop, Nihon Ad Systems, and TV Tokyo. All names were changed to the characters of this fandom in order to protect the real people involved in the following incidents.

**Warning:** Please read before continuing on! Because of the author's hesitancy to post this page, she feels a warning should be issued. The following contains incredibly graphic material, including sex, nudity, gore, religious cults, the rape of both males and females by both males and females, rape victim shaming, warped feminist/neopaganist theology, incest, inbreeding, child sexuality, serial murder, sadism, and erotophonophilia (lust murder). If you feel disgusted, uncomfortable, and/or offended by any of those topics, remember that you have absolutely no obligation to read this page. You may also leave this page at any time - it is your choice and no one will think less of you for it. Also note that the contents of this page do not reflect the opinions of the author, AlcatrazOutpatient.

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><p><strong>Thirteenth Page: The Order of D'Lua<strong>

Estela remembers her mother telling her of Ernesto Torres - the first man to fall to The Order of D'Lua. She remembers the first time she heard that story. The air that night was thick with the taste of bloody copper and the smell of split flesh.

"He was a demon, like all men are demon," her mother, Dores - The Order's High Priestess, savior, and prophet - spoke. "He forced himself on me, nearly killed me. I - who am of the moon, a child of the Goddess. The Devil sent Ernesto Torres to test me. And I defeated him."

Estela remembers holding her brother's hand, eyes wide with awe and hope and dreams of the future, as her mother held the shining axe in her hand high above her head. She brought it down, slamming it into the torso of the demon-man tied up beneath her. He screams as his blood splatters across Dores's face.

This ritual is beautiful. Her mother praying to the Goddess, offering a demon tribute to the moon. This is the first time that Estela and Diogo had watched, but Dores had told been telling them stories of how The Order of D'Lua practiced since her infancy. She had been waiting for this moment for so long and now that she is here, Estela can not help but marvel at it's artistry, elegance, and grace.

"The Order prays through the body," Dores speaks the words of Heaven as the demon-man's agony becomes but a whisper. "Sex is the medium and through it can one truly connect with the Goddess. The woman is the divine form and men are the Devil's. The Devil must not be let to rule on this earth. We are the warriors of the Goddess and she has entrusted up to destroy the Devil's plan."

She is eleven years old.

* * *

><p>It is the night of the Unseen Goddess, when the moon is not present in the sky. Estela and Diogo attend to their mother as she prepares, disguising herself as a mortal in order trick the demons into her bed. This is the night where those of The Order are at their most powerful, as their deity has poured all of her courage, power, and wisdom into them. She is neither the maid, the mother, nor the crone. She is the darkness itself.<p>

"We let them touch the Goddess first before we begin the fight," Dores explains as Diogo silently applies the paint to her lips. "It is to see if they will repent or not. You did," she touches her son cheek softly, smiling, "when you were but a babe. Your sister reached out to you and saved you from the Devil. Love her, Diogo, for she is your star."

Estela's heart leaps when Diogo looks at her like he worships the ground she walked upon. "I do," he sighs, eyes full of light. "I love you, Estela."

"I love you, too," she whispers back.

Dores tells them to hide in the other room, just as she did last time. Diogo and Estela wait for her return. He strokes her arm gently under the light of the stars.

"I love you," he says again. "I love you, Estela. My star. I love you, I love you, I love you."

Estela blushes from his attention. She leans a head on his shoulder as the front door opens and two pairs of footsteps stumble towards the bed. Sometimes she watches this bit through the crack in the wood. It makes her stomach feel warm and her toes clench in her shoes. She does this now, her hand holding Diogo's tightly. He groans and buries his face in the back of her neck, his other arm snaking around her waist.

As her mother's cries become louder and louder, Estela sees divinity in its raw form. She feels it within her body, smells it in the air. And when Diogo pleads, _begging_ for permission ("My star, Estela, I love you, I love you, I love you - Please!"), she turns around and kisses him on the lips.

Estela knows that, at heart, Diogo is a demon from Hell, sent by the Devil himself to infiltrate The Order, but he is hers now _and she holds his reigns_ - no one else. And if the Devil dares come back to try and reclaim him, the red skinned beast will have to deal with her first.

* * *

><p>Estela bleeds for the first time in the May just before her thirteenth year begins. Her mother is so proud that the Goddess has bestowed Her mark on her that the woman let's her out into the streets for the first time in a year and a half, a small coin purse in hand and tells her to buy some sweets. Diogo stands protectively at her side, a demon guarding a star with his life.<p>

She walks the market like one of The Order of D'Lua should. Her head is high and proud and glorious. Her skirts flow around her ankles, neatly pressed and freshly washed. Estela revels in the sweet smelling air as she strides towards a vender who sells fresh baked treats.

"What can I do for ya, pretty girl?" It is a man, dark beard tangled and briskly with black, beady eyes poking out just beneath his hairline. Estela tells herself that she has no fear of demons, especially with Diogo by her side, but her knees quake anyways at the way the man looks at her.

"Brigadeiros. A dozen," Diogo takes the purse from her hand and tosses it towards the demon, eyes hard as stones under his brown curls.

The demon smirks, "Right away, young master."

Estela can't shake the feeling of wrongness as they head back. Diogo keeps checking over his shoulder and keeps his hand in her's to assure himself that she's still there. They are almost home when a large hunk of wood comes out of the shadows and strikes her brother in the back of the head. Diogo falls like a stone in water and Estela screams in fear. Her protector is gone.

The demon from the market pulls her into an alley and shoves her against a wall. He murmurs about how she is _asking for it_ with her eyes, his voice deep and full of the fires of Hell and Estela cries even though she is supposed to be the Goddess's newest warrior but she's so _scared_ and she can't stop -

"Whore," the demon growls and pulls his pants down. He forces Estela to her knees and shoves his dick in her mouth, "Suck."

Estela doesn't, using the last bit of defiance in her, but the demon is too strong for her. His hips move and he's choking her and she can't breathe as he hits the back for her throat. He doesn't finish, but pulls out and grabs her by the back of her head, slamming her face into the wall.

"Spread 'em, you slut."

"_Die!_" The voice belongs not to her and not to the demon, but to Diogo who flies at her attacker with fists and fury and death. He knocks the demon down, throws the breath from his lungs as he stamps down the demon's stomach, and tears the demon's eyes from his head.

Diogo takes no pity on the Devil's servant. He breaks the man's knees, pulls his nails from his fingers, rips off an ear, mangles his feet, and finally cuts off his penis. Diogo shoves it down the demon's throat and holds it there until he stops breathing.

Estela doesn't move. She's too shocked, too amazed by this beautiful creature who saved her life. He's covered in blood and glorious. She doesn't remember moving her feet, but finds her arms wrapped around his neck. Diogo whispers apologies into her hair, but she silences him with a kiss.

"I love you," she tells him, meaning every word. "I love you so much."

"But..." he looks up at her, their brown eyes meeting and their love channeled in their gaze, "...I am like him. I was born a demon."

"You are not a demon anymore. You are Diogo D'Lua. You are of the Goddess. And I love you," Estela smiles at him. Diogo's blood soaked hands caresses her cheek and stain them red. He presses his forehead against hers.

"I will _always_ protect you," he swears, "until the day I die."

Later that week when the bleeding stops, Estela comes to him. Diogo's eyes are wide and his fingers clench in the sheets when she pulls her nightshirt over her head and crawls into bed with him. She straddles him, taking his hands and guiding them up her legs to rest on her hips.

"E-Estela?" His voice cracks.

"I want to show you the divine," she answers him. "I want to give you my purity."

Diogo stares into her eyes, testing her will. When he sees the truth, he sits up beneath her and cups her face, kissing her softly. She removes his shirt and they both fall into bed together.

* * *

><p>She knows the ritual by heart. She's seen her mother pray hundreds of times. Estela knows this and steels herself as she prepares for her first demon hunt under the eye of the Unseen Goddess. She is nervous, but Dores promises to be with her in the moment of truth.<p>

Estela is seventeen.

Diogo waits for her in her room and helps her prepare. He washes her hair, making it smooth and soft, before pulling it into a braid. Estela applies her own eye paint before gathering her dress. Diogo pulls the ties behind her before resting his chin in the grove between her neck and shoulder.

"You're worried," she whispers softly, eyes equally gentle.

"Worried, yes. But also..." he hand shifts, sliding down to just below her belly. "I am a bit angry."

"Why?" She turns in her seat, questioning.

"I don't...there will be another who knows you as I do. I don't like that," he admits, looking at the ground in shame. "I know that you have a duty, but...I wish...I don't want to leave you to do this."

Estela shakes her head, "Diogo, you know that you are only one for me."

"I know. I just wish..." he runs a hand through his hair, frustrated with himself. "I want to pray with you, but I can't because I am a man and -"

"There is a way," she admits, telling him something that she's secretly always thought of as the ideal option. "During the middle part of the ritual. The last bit."

"...Estela?"

"I mean, if you don't want to play that part, I understand. But I'd just like to be with you during..." she reaches up and runs her fingers across his jawbone. He nods his head so quickly, eyes squeezed shut in hope, that she briefly worries for his neck.

"Together," she whispers. "We will always be together."

That night finds her in an alleyway, smiling and giggling and luring a demon into her home, dressed as a mortal woman, tempting and smelling of lust. Estela guides him towards her bed, lying down and letting him attempt to gain redemption through her body. She fakes a moan, but feels none of the high that Diogo gives her. There are days when she wonders if it is only through women that one can touch the goddess, because Diogo takes her closer to the divine then anything else.

As the demon pulls out and lays down beside her, Estela turns towards him and says the lines her mother taught her to, "Were you touched?"

"Touched?" The demon lets loose a barking laugh and rolls off to the side. He picks up his trousers and start to put them on, "Sweetheart, you're a good fuck and all, but I ain't taking you home to meet the wife."

Estela's eyes narrow, but understand that the demon was unable to repent. She must do her duty as the Goddess's warrior.

She pulls the rope out from under the pillow and, just as his back turns, leaps out of bed and wraps it around his throat. The demon chokes and attempts to fight back, but his air is cut off. Estela let's him go only when he blacks out.

Still naked, the smell of the demon still on her skin, she tries to pull him onto her bed. Dores and Diogo enter the room and her brother moves to help her. Together, they tie his arms and legs to the bedposts.

"You've done well, my daughter," Dores cups her face with her hands and rests her forehead against her's. "You are so strong."

"I learned everything from you," Estela stares at her mother lovingly.

"That you did. But now, you must finish the job. Send him back to Hell," Dores's smile becomes sharp and jagged.

The demon begins to wake. He struggles against his binds, starting to shout. Diogo, who is much closer to him then anyone else, grabs the axe at the foot of the bed and presses the handle into his throat. The demon shuts up very quickly.

"Don't move," Diogo hisses. "You've already touched her once. She gave you a chance and you didn't take it."

"If this is about the wife thing, I swear, this is the only time I ever -"

"Shut. Your. Mouth," he bares over him, deadly and dangerous.

"Estela, it's time," Dores whispers. That it is. She steps forwards, but when Diogo attempts to move off of him, Estela stops him.

"Together," she tells him. He settles between the demon's legs, raising them up into the right position for what she needs him to do. Estela slides into place, her back to his front, hip to hip. The demon's manhood is trapped in-between her thighs and unlike before it isn't hard. He's terrified.

"Let me go! I...I didn't want this, please, _I have a family_-"

"Silence!" Estela snaps, placing each hand on the axe hilt, pressing down and, once more, cutting off his voice. Diogo shifts underneath the demon. The man's eyes widen and then his mouth opens in a silent scream as Diogo forces his way into him. Estela presses down on the hilt and, like her mother does but different at the same time, lets the demon back into her body.

She rides him as Diogo kills him from within. She knows that this is when her mother would start to hack and chop down but she is different and this is her way of praying not Dores's and she will make her own way. With Diogo. Together as one.

The demon's eyes roll back into his head, his breath leaving his body for one final time and Diogo, because he's not done and Estela can't get any more enjoyment out of this, slides out of the corpses, pulls her off and slides into her. Her legs hooks around the outside of his and he moves her hips up and down over him. They kiss over the body of their first sacrifice to the Goddess and love each other all the more.

* * *

><p>Diogo runs his hands over her swollen belly, feeling the strong kicks of the child within. Estela smiles as he whispers, "I hope it's a girl."<p>

"She will be strong and wise and powerful," she tells him. "But most of all, she will be yours."

The sounds of their mother praying in the other room echo through the house, but Diogo scoops her up in his arms and carries her out into the night. They dance together on the rooftops beneath the Unseen Goddess and kiss under the stars.

Diogo is overjoyed to be a father, taking it upon himself to make the baby's cradle as a surprise. Estela is touched beyond anything in the world and she smiles in his arms, hands on her stomach as she imagines their family. The next generation of The Order of D'Lua will be theirs and they will not disappoint.

Dores always told them that they had no father, that one day her bleeding had stopped and the Goddess sent her a message telling her of the children inside her womb. Estela's children will be born of the union between man and woman, but they will be of pure D'Lua decent.

Their first child is a daughter and they name her Andreia. When Diogo tells the little bundle of joy that she will grow up to be as beautiful as her mother, Estela smiles with all the love in the world.

As she grows, Estela and Diogo let her outside more than Dores thinks is appropriate. "The outside world is dangerous," she says. "What a demon snatches her? What if she is killed before she can take her place in The Order?"

"Don't be silly, mother," Estela shakes her head. "Diogo and I are here. If anyone should be worried, it is those who wish to harm her."

Andreia takes her first steps just then. They are shaking and uncertain and when she falls, Diogo catches her. He looks up at Estela and there isn't a force on earth or in Hell that can stop his proud fatherly grin.

* * *

><p>Estela falls pregnant again four years later, but this tome refuses to stop praying, as she knows her body can take it - at least for the first while. Every month, as the Goddess draws her veil and becomes the night, she takes a demon into her bed and, with the help of her precious Diogo, sacrifices him in prayer. Afterwards, Diogo worships her, cleaning the stench of demon off her body and caresses her belly where their second child is held.<p>

They find Andreia hidden away one night, terrified or what she's seen them do. Estela hums softly and explains The Order to her, telling them of her sacred duty. Their daughter is silent for what seems like an hour, but then says, "But...I don't want to be a warrior. I just want to bake bread."

They don't allow her outside for a month after that remark, worried that Dores's words just might be true. Estela and Diogo swear to follow their mother's advice for their second child. And two months later, under a full moon, Graca is born.

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><p>Graca is a quiet baby and an even quieter toddler. She speaks, that they know, so she isn't a mute. But she rarely responds to anything with words, instead using nods and jerks of her head and the occasional grunt. Diogo is worried, but Dores places a hand on his shoulder and says that sometimes children are like that. Her smile is lined with wrinkles as she comforts her son.<p>

Estela's stomach drops when she sees the grey hairs streaking from her mother's brow. She remembers that Dores is just over forty years and is getting _old_. She'll be a crone soon, not just a mother and a mentor and a prophet. Dores is and will always be wise, but now age will become a factor. Eventually, it will all lead to death.

"But, mother," Diogo has and will never make eye contact with her, but his voice is calm and controlled as usual. "If she doesn't learn to speak, then there might be something wrong with her. She might not be all there in her mind."

"She is just quiet," their mother snaps at him for not listening to her words. Estela says nothing, just rubs her, once again, pregnant belly. She prays for the Goddess to send her another daughter - one with the same dark, curly hair that she and Diogo both possess and had passed down to their two children. Estela also hopes that Diogo is wrong and there is nothing wrong with Graca. She doesn't want anything to happen to her darling girl.

Her worries are proved wrong three weeks later when Graca holds baby Lucia in her arms and starts to sing.

* * *

><p>Estela tales the meat that Diogo stripped from the bones of their latest victim and carries it in a basket towards where the dogs normally gather behind The Order of D'Lua's convent. She flicks the hunks of flesh at them and they tear it apart with their teeth. Andreia opens the back door and sits with her.<p>

"This is wrong," her daughter whispers.

"What's that, Andreia?"

"What your doing. This is wrong," Andreia speaks again, eyes red from crying.

Estela sighs, knowing what this is about, "You've been talking to the butcher's boy again, haven't you?"

Andreia says nothing, just looks at the ground. Her hands twist in her dress.

"You've been sneaking out at night," she hisses.

"He's not a demon," Andreia looks ready to burst out into tears again.

"All men are demons."

"Then what about dad? Is he one?"

Estela's shoulders tense, "Your father is different. He repented."

"And who's word do you have for? Grandma's? She's a liar," Andreia glances up at her.

"What's this? What filth has that demon been telling you?"

"Everything is a lie. D'Lua isn't even Grandma's last name! She -" Andreia hiccups and stands, nearly shouting at the top of her lungs. "She's a _whore_, mother!"

Estela upsets the basket in her rage, the dogs howling and converging around her for the scraps of demon-meat, "How dare you? Your grandmother saved us! How dare - how dare you say this blasphemy about her?!"

She grabs her daughter by the back of her hair and drags her back into the house. She locks Andreia in the cellar and doesn't let her back out until the girl takes back everything that she said. It takes six weeks.

* * *

><p>Estela's fourth pregnancy is a difficult one. The mornings are filled with vomiting and her body is racked with illness in the evening. Her temperature flares unexpectedly, sending her into cold sweats that make her feel as if her body is burning up. The first five months she spends in and out of bed and there is little that Diogo can do to get her to eat.<p>

And to make it worse, Dores is injured during a demon hunt. Even though it is during the night of the Unseen Goddess, when she should have been at her most powerful, the demon is able to overpower her and cut her ankles. Now her feet are lame and she'll never walk properly again.

Estela ignores her protesting body and gets out of bed to care for her mother. Dores looks her in the eye and tells her that the fate of The Order now rests on her shoulders. Tracing the symbol of the Mother Goddess between Estela's eyes, her mother makes her the next High Priestess and advises her to begin training the next generation.

* * *

><p>Estela encourages her daughters to watch her pray. Graca holds little Lucia upright in her lap, eyes blank and glossy as usual. The youngest watches on with the same rapture and amazement that Estela had at her age. Andreia, however (and she scowls at her daughter's cowardice), curls up in a ball and hides herself in a corner.<p>

Estela doesn't understand why she would ever do such a thing, but acknowledges on thing: Andreia is not fit to become the next head priestess of The Order of D'Lua. Not yet, anyways. If she breaks the hold that the demon butcher's boy has over the girl, then maybe...just maybe, the girl will have a chance.

But her pregnancy drains her, making it more difficult to pray every month. Diogo, in an attempt to aid her, begins to take her place when entrapping the demons, bringing back a new breed that The Order of D'Lua has never seen before. She watches on as the two men roll around in the bed, clawing and snarling at one another in a ways that only demons could. She sees Diogo arch his back as the demon pins him down and takes him for his own.

Estela can't help but feel a wave of jealousy roll over when she sees this. She knows now why Diogo has been so intent on killing the demons she sacrifices so quickly.

It is on one of these nights that she feels it - a feeling that she has become accustomed to after three daughters and knows that the baby is coming. But then she realizes that the contractions are too fast, that water is running down her legs too soon and she screams for help because this isn't supposed to happen. Diogo hears her cry and leaps from the bed mid-ritual and runs into the side room. The demon sees her in her weakest of states and advances. She can't hear anything through the pain (and there is so much pain, it had _never_ been like this before), but Diogo can and turns on him, completing the ritual.

He takes the axe from her hands and brings it down on the demon's wrist, cutting it clean off. The demon screams and clutches at his bloodied stump, but Diogo isn't done. He kicks the man onto his back and leaps on top of him, slamming the axe into the man's torso. Discarding the weapon off to the side, Diogo takes his hands and uses them to pry open the demon's chest. The demon's screams becomes piercing as his rib cage opens up and exposes her lungs and still bearing heart.

Then, in an act that reminds her that her precious Diogo was born a demon, he bends over and begins to rip at the man's organs with his teeth. He pulls the demon's intestines out of his stomach and wraps them around his neck, pulling at both ends. Just before the man's eyes roll into the back of his head, Diogo bites out his heart.

The demon moves no more.

Diogo, face and naked body still covered in blood, calls their children into the room to help get their mother onto the bed. Estela can already feel the baby crowning within her and knows that it will be over soon.

Diogo holds her hand even though she's crushing it, Dores is placed at the bottom of the bed in order to play the roll of midwife, and their daughters wait off to the sidelines in wait of their new sister.

But then Dores shrieks in surprise and Diogo's eyes look panicked. Estela feeling that the child has left her womb, looks up and asks, "What is it?"

It is Andreia who answers, "It's a boy."

* * *

><p>Estela refuses to hold it. Dores hands the boy off to Graca, who takes to the demon as she had Lucia. Estela cries at her shame of bringing one of them into the world.<p>

It was all her fault. She should have been more careful. She should have seen the signs. Her mother had told her specifically how demons were born and she should have seen it.

"Conceived by death and born by death! Diogo, I should have known," she cries as he comforts her.

"Maybe...maybe it will be alright. Maybe he'll be like me," he whispers back to her. It gives her hope.

"If...if the Goddess gives us a sign...if he repents as I did...maybe he'll be alright," he says as he rubs her back comfortingly.

"And if not," Estela looks up with tear-filled eyes.

"Then," Diogo's throat bobs as he swallows, "then I'll take care of it."

* * *

><p>Five days go by without a sign and Estela is on the brink of throwing the demon out into the streets to be trampled by the passing horses. It is unnatural, even for a demon. It's eyes are red like the embers, it's hair white as bone. It's clearly not Estela's child, nor is it Diogo's. It's an impossible, disgusting creature.<p>

Estela knows that Andreia is taking advantage of her numb mind to sneak out of the house in order to see the butcher's boy, but she can't find it in herself to care. She sits at the windowsill, unmoving and unable to see the world outside.

And then the sixth day comes. Estela can feel the stink of the demon as Graca brings him into the room to play. Her fingers itch with the urge to take it from her and strangle it beneath her boot. The beast blinks at her with its demon eyes and opens it's mouth.

"She is coming."

Graca barely reacts at all, but even with this girl, a blink is more of an indication of her surprise than anything else. But Estela lurches to her feet because the boy just spoke. He's six days old and he is speaking.

Impossible.

"She is coming," he repeats again, his white hair catching her eye and Estela thinks that it is the same colour as the Goddess as she travels through the night sky.

"Who is coming?" She speaks in a hush voice, not daring to make the wrong move.

"My Queen. She is coming," and with that, the baby closes it's eyes and goes to sleep.

Estela runs towards the child, picking it up for the first time and holding it against her. She realizes know that she was wrong. This was not a demon child, but a messenger from the Goddess herself. A sign - _the sign_.

The Goddess would decent upon the earth to reclaim it in her name. And The Order of D'Lua would lead the charge.

* * *

><p>Andreia is a problem. Estela has been too lenient with her eldest daughter. Dores suggests a plan of action and she agrees. This is the best way to break the Devil's hold on the girl.<p>

Estela lures the boy into the clutches of The Order, promising him Andreia if he co-operates. Once inside, Diogo knocks him into unconsciousness with a wooden plank. They tie him to the bed and call their daughter.

Once she sees inside the room, the girl begins to cry, "No. No, no, _no_, not like this, please! He's done _nothing_ wrong. He's not a demon, I swear, he's not!"

"Shhh," Estela smiles calmingly. "Do not worry, Andreia. I'll be right here with you. There's no need to be scared."

"Tell them!" She screams at Dores, who is watching in her chair, "Tell them that this is all a lie! That you made this all up! There is no such thing as The Order!"

Estela snakes her head in shame because she should have known that this would happen. She'd given her daughter too much freedom.

Andreia's whole body freezes as she starts to pull at the lacings of her bodice. The dress soon pools around her ankles and the demon begins to awake.

"Wh-what? Andreia? What are you - _what are you doing?!_ Let her go!"

"It has to be this way, Andreia," Estela tell her daughter. "You let him control you. I warned you. This has to happen."

"No! Please, stop, please!" The girl cries, but her body moves when Estela pushes her forwards. At least, that part of her knows what it is supposed to do as a warrior of the Goddess.

To stop the butcher's boy from crying out, Diogo gags him with a cloth. Estela tugs Andreia onto the bed, spooning her body around the girl's and getting her into position. Taking her daughter's hips in hand, she pushes until the demon is within her.

Andreia sobs and the demon struggles despite his curling toes. Estela sees that the girl is still bound by the demon's spell and whispers, "Show him redemption. If he can redeem himself, he will be free."

The girl moves, jerkingly as her breath continues to hitch and tears roll down her face. Estela touches the flesh just below her daughter's navel.

"One day," she tells her the grand plan, "the Goddess will descend upon the earth. And you, Andreia, as High Priestess of The Order, will marry her messenger. You and your sisters will have his children, as he is off the Goddess just as you are. You will carry them here."

Andreia doesn't answer, just bows over and places her hands on either side of the butcher's boy's head. She removes the gag and kisses him. Estela stares in shock as the two simultaneously whisper that they love each other - _love_! How preposterous, a demon loving one of the Goddess's children. Let alone Andreia loving him. She grabs her daughter by the hair and yanks her back up.

When it's over, Estela is enraged at her daughter for defying The Order and everything that they ever stood for. She shoves the axe into the girl's hands, telling her to kill the demon or that she's going back in the cellar and she is never coming out. Andreia cries and refuses over and over again. But then she gets very silent and looks over at Dores.

"_You_," she spits and Estela has never heard such rage in the girl's voice before. "You did this. You lied to her about everything."

"I did not -" the old woman starts, but is cut off.

"You a slut, that's all you've ever been: a slut. The bastard of some trumped up noble bitch and her black bed slave. They gave you away out of shame! There was never any Order! _You made it all up_!"

Diogo slaps her across the face, "How dare you speak to your grandmother like that!"

"It's true," the butcher's boy yells from his tied down position. "That's what everyone says. That's what everyone knows. She made it up, because she got herself raped and went mad!"

"You - you be silent, demon!" Dores screams from her seat.

"What are you going to do? Kill me? Come up with something new, you old bitch!" The boy laughs, "At least I'm not the one who got knocked up by the old baker."

Something freezes Estela's blood and she remembers the words "Brigadeiros. A dozen," like it was just yesterday. She shakes her head, dispelling the impossibility because there is no way, _no way_ that is possible. She is a child of the Goddess, untouched by demons and filth, and _that man is not her father_!

"She made it up, mother! Please, don't kill him! He's not a demon! She made it up!" Andreia howls through her sobs.

Estela has had enough. She grips Andreia's neck hard enough to bruise. The girl chokes and drops the axe, trying to loosen her grip but Estela is strong, having killed hundreds of demons before. This little wretch of a bitch is not her daughter. No, she has sold herself to the Devil and must be killed.

"Lilith," she hisses as the wretch's face looses a few more shades of colour. "I know who you are!"

"No!" She hears a cry, but it is not Andreia's, not the demon's. It is Lucia, four years old and already able to lift the heavy axe above her head. She brings it down on the butcher's boy's neck. It takes almost ten swings before he stops moving.

Diogo steps forward, stopping the little girl from fully decapitating the demon. Her face is covered in red and there is blood all over her dress. Lucia isn't smiling, but there is a glow in her eyes that wasn't there before.

Grace does nothing, just as she usually is. She hums softly to the baby, whom they had named Bakura. The baby hums back at her, playing with her long curly hair.

"Why?" Andreia asks, voice broken and horrified.

"Why?" Lucia looks up at her oldest sister, "Because you shouldn't have to."

Andreia is locked in the cellar for the last time that night. Estela gives Dores the key and makes her swear on her life that she will never return it to her.

* * *

><p>Estela doesn't really think about Andreia afterwards. She knows that Dores is the one that provides the girl her food and knows that sometimes the older woman stays longer then is necessary, but doesn't think any more of it. She definitely doesn't think about the screams she hears coming from the cellar when Dores visits her either. She certainly doesn't think about how the woman's wooden phallus goes missing every so often, usually coinciding with said visits.<p>

Estela doesn't care what happens to Andreia. She should consider herself lucky that she wasn't dead. She was Lilith, the Devil's whore and mother of demon spawn. She holds watches as little Bakura takes his first steps across the room, wondering how she could have ever thought him to be the Devil's spy in The Order. It had and always clearly had been Andreia.

Bakura is a beautiful boy, though he is quiet like Graca. The older girl cares for his every need and whim without hesitation, though sometimes Estela sees her hands shaking when Graca looks Bakura in the eye. She can feel it too, the distinct feeling of different - the Goddess's mark. He was beyond male and female, beyond humanity and it's petty existence. This boy was divinity.

She brushes his hair, his beautiful white hair, herself. Estela uses the special comb that Dores told her was handcrafted by The Order's High Priestess over a thousand years ago. It's silver, just like his hair and she hums a song about their duty under her breath as she works.

But one day during his forth year, she finds Bakura curled up in a corner, sick with fever and covered in red, red rashes. Estela calls Lucia to her, telling her to get Diogo, Dores, and Graca, pressing her lips to his forehead in order to check his temperature. She discovers that he's freezing cold, not boiling as she originally thought.

The winds pick up around the house as Diogo enters the room, Lucia wheeling her grandmother in afterwards.

"Where is Graca?" Estela snaps, holding Bakura in her arms and trying to warm him with her body heat.

"Downstairs. She's in the kitchen preparing supper," Diogo answers as Bakura starts to scream. The little boy claws at his skin and foams at the mouth and then -

There is a bright light. The world is rocked for a single moment in time. And then all Estela knows is darkness.

* * *

><p>A few hours (or is it moments, because time passes oddly in the cellar) Andreia hears the scraping of the key in the lock. She shakes in her manacles, knowing just what comes with every meal. Flashes of her grandmother tightening the chains until she couldn't move and then strapping that thing between her legs haunt her, as does the phantom pain in between her legs and in her rear.<p>

"Miguel," she prays to the boy she once loved, once watched die. "Miguel, help me. Miguel, please."

For the first time in years, she feels his strong arms around her and his warm voice inside her ears. He whispers to her, "Don't worry. Everything is fine."

And he is right. Instead of Dores, Graca enters the room, followed closely by tiny form of Bakura. Her sister rushes over to her, slipping the key into the huffs. They fell from her wrists and her ankles and Andreia stares at them amazed.

"We have to go," she thinks that is the largest sentence she has ever heard Graca say. Andreia moves off the bed and takes her first steps towards the door in years. Her knees nearly collapse when she steps through the archway.

"What happened?" She hisses.

"I don't know. Bakura...he was just sitting in the middle of the room. And everything was...well, have a look," Graca points towards the house, which has been set ablaze. "I did everything I could to get him out."

"Where are the rest? Lucia? Dad?" Andreia asks, marveling at the night sky. The moon is waxing and the stars are bright and it is so utterly beautiful.

"Dead. Everyone else is dead."

She should be sad. She should be anguished. She shouldn't be so overjoyed that she succumbs to tears. But she doesn't care. She's happy and crying and everything feels amazing because she's free. Finally, she is free!

"Miguel!" She sings for the ghost of the boy she loved and still loves to this day, "Miguel! Tonight, we dance under the stars!"

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><p><strong>Hey guys!<strong>

**I'd like to thank zukofan2005 for reviewing for the last chapter.**

**This is quite possibly the darkest, most deprived, and possibly the porniest thing I have ever come up with. If any of you got offended at any point, I am sorry. Truly and honestly sorry.**

**To break the forth wall a bit, I'm going to explain exactly what happened to Dores. She is the love child of a wealthy plantation owner's daughter and her lover, one of the very slaves her father owned. Her mother hid her pregnancy and, after giving birth, gave the child away to the church. The priest working there was not a nice man and often molested the girls that he was given, Dores being one of them. After escaping, due to lack of money, Dores became a prostitute at the age of twelve and continued on until she met Ernesto Torres.**

**Torres was by no means a good person. He was a drunk and beat his wife senseless on many an occasion, often raping her in the process. Eventually, he turned his wondering eye to Dores, who walked the streets in his neighbourhood, and propositioned her. He anally raped her, though in self-defence, she killed him. However, Dores is what is called a erotophonophile, meaning that she actually gets turned on by murder. She caved more of the high she experienced after killing Torres, which resulted in her murdering her next client, Jorge Cabral.**

**However, in order to make sense of what she was doing, Dores created the the whole Order of D'Lua thing and convinced herself that it was true. She perfected her craft, luring men into her bed and having sex with them to 'get them to repent after touching divinity'. When they didn't repent, she would knock them out and rape them before chopping them to pieces with an axe while they were still alive.**

**But one day, her would-be victim was too strong for her to fully incapacitate. This was the baker that Miguel talked about. He impregnated her with the twins that would later become Estela and Diogo. Unable to tell them who their father really was without punching plot holes in her story, Dores told them that they had no father and that they were a gift to her by the Goddess.**

**Dores lied and indoctrinated her children. She was particularly strike with Diogo as he was a man and wouldn't fit in with her story unless she told him that he was a repented demon. While Estela never questioned her mother, Diogo learned to adapt in order to survive (he's pretty much a textbook example of Stockholm syndrome combined with being psychotic). She was especially worried about Andreia getting outside because she might find out about the real world. During the girl's captivity, to punish her, Dores would rape her as well.**

**However, she died, along with Diogo, Estela, and Lucia, when Dark God developed his magical powers. Due to his unstable soul, he developed extremely young and caused an explosion.**

**Of the two remaining D'Lua sisters, Andreia stayed with Graca for a few years before getting on a boat and moving to Portugal. She is the only one to have children. Graca stayed in Brazil and, to come full circle, had to become a prostitute because of lack of money. During Dark God's section of Resurrection, we will see what happened to her and how she died.**

**Well, that's pretty much it. I hope to hear from you all soon.**

**Until next time,**

**AlcatrazOutpatient**


	14. In Which Bakura Is A Girl

**The Others: Odd Happenings**

**Disclaimer:** Yu-gi-oh! Duel Monsters is owned by Kazuki Takahashi, Studio Gallop, Nihon Ad Systems, TV Tokyo and 4Kids Entertainment. All names were changed to the characters of this fandom in order to protect the real people involved in the following incidents.

**Warning:** Alternate reality of The Others Series. Spoilers to The Second Year and The Third Year.

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><p><strong>Page Fourteenth: In Which Bakura Is A Girl<strong>

Alternative Title: The Seven Men Who Realized She Was Out Of Their League And The One Who Didn't Care

"_Because what's worse than knowing you want something, besides knowing you can never have it?"  
>- James Patterson, <em>The Angel Experiment

He realizes it the first time he sees her truly fight.

With eyes blazing the same colour has the flames around her, flying through the air and delivering impossibly powerful blows, he just _stops_ in the middle of trying to run for his life and just watches her. It doesn't matter that there's a bomb about to go off – it doesn't even register.

Because Ryou Bakura is _beautiful. _ Why has he never noticed this before?

It takes his breath away as he sees her leap from roof to roof. He tries to remember the awkward little girl from the bathroom, staring blankly at a kitchen knife and contemplating the ramifications of taking her own life. He tries to remember her limp form, held to a metal pole only by duct tape – remember the ribs sticking out from under her skin, the knobs of her knees, her spidery fingers. Remember that her hair is a matted mess of strands and not a flowing moonlit stream like it is now.

And later that night, when he's holding his jacket to her side, trying to stanch the bleeding, Bakura cracks open an eye lid (she shouldn't be alive, his brain supplies him, how is she alive?) and catches his gaze. He thinks that she's laughing at him, finding something funny, so he shouts at her.

"Don't you die! Don't you dare die! You can't – you just can't, so don't –"

She whispers something. He doesn't catch most of it, but he catches the main idea. And his mouth hangs open because he couldn't have just heard _Ryou-badass-mother-fucking-Bakura_ admit to having the hugest crush on him in tenth grade. He remembers that Serenity is right next to him just in time to stop him from kissing her in the heat of the moment.

But it's when he watches Bakura use her teleporting phone to leave them all behind that he realizes that nothing could ever come of what feelings he has for her. It's not that he thinks that she belongs to another world then she does – because he doesn't. They're all apart of the same world and what effects the Others community effects him, too.

It's because _she left him behind_. Bakura doesn't need her silly crush on him to keep her going anymore. She doesn't need him at all. She was beyond him and there wasn't a thing he could do to get her to stay.

But for the rest of his life, Duke Devlin will be haunted by the question, "What if?"

* * *

><p>He realizes it the moment she touches his skin for the first time.<p>

The second after he notices that, he thinks about how soft she is. How slight and delicate she looks. He sees the look in Bakura's eyes that tells him that she'll do anything just to see him happy again and – for an instant of a second – he considers it.

He considers pushing her back until she'll fully lying on his bed and removing the baggy clothing she wears over her slim frame all the time until there was nothing left. He wants to touch her, map every inch of her skin until he's memorized her whole body. And then…and then…

He wanted to taste her, _feel_ her, melt into her and make her his because _he could touch her skin_ and it didn't hurt like he thought it would. He wanted to make her claw at his back and say his name, breathless and wanting and _needing_ like he needed her in that moment.

But then he blinks, the instant of a second over and Bakura smiles softly and tells him that it'll be all right. She's so kind in that moment and Marik Ishtar hides his face in her shoulder rather than deal with the shame of what he wanted to do with his best friend not a moment ago.

* * *

><p>He realizes it and deems himself selfish for every wanting it in the first place.<p>

He's twelve. She's _eighteen_. Bakura probably doesn't see him as anything more than a kid brother but he wants her to. He wants her see him as more. And it's stupid.

It's so utterly stupid that he can't even wrap his head around it. He doesn't know what to do in a relationship. He doesn't understand what she would want out of it. He doesn't even know how to kiss a girl, damn it. So how in the world would be able to be with her?

Not to mention his powers. God, he couldn't touch Bakura even if he wanted to. And he does want to. He wants to hold her hand and sit beside her and play with her hair but he can't because if he does then she might die.

So he says nothing. Does nothing. Tries not to think about it at all. But when he sees Bakura in the hospital after she wakes up, her hand touching the bandages over her eye as if trying to will them away, there isn't a single thing in the world that could stop Leon von Schroader from offering up his blood in the hopes of seeing her smile again.

* * *

><p>He realizes it in the medical wing of Area 51 as they wait for the news on his father's operation.<p>

It's been almost a year and a half since he realized just who this slip of a girl was and he still can't believe that it's true. The stories Atem had told him as a child had made Bakura out to be some sort of legendary warrior, but all he can see right now is someone so worried out of her mind and the thought of loosing… what exactly? Just what were Bakura and Atem? Girlfriend and boyfriend just seemed to silly, too adolescent to describe what those two have. Partners, then? Lovers? All titles just seemed pale in comparison to the love that they'd shared, spanning over a thousand years. He doesn't like it, but he'll just have to deal with it because it makes Atem happy.

So he sits and he watches. Watches her thin, bony hands quiver. Watches her heel tap nervously against the ground. Watches her jaw clench and unclench. Sees her raise her eyes up to meet his.

Something turns in his stomach just then. He watches her get up and move across the hall towards him. Bakura sits down next to him and leans her head against his shoulder. He feels the cloth of his shirt dampening, but doesn't say a word.

He's scared for a moment, because this girl is his father's…something and he doesn't know how to react around women, let alone crying women and this is the legend he grew up hearing about and legends don't cry, please don't cry.

He takes a few queues from a movie he watched, wrapping his good arm around her shoulder and pulls her close. Bakura's fingers clench in the fabric of his shirt, refusing to let him go and he thinks, just for a second what it would be like to…to…to _want_ this more often from her and-

"…Dad…" she mumbles against him and he feels like he's swallowed his tongue. He doesn't know how to take that, so he just rolls with it. Because, Seto Kaiba thinks, there are worse things out there to want than being Ryou Bakura's surrogate father figure – loving her any more than how he does already is one of them.

* * *

><p>He realizes it when her blood drips down onto his face.<p>

Never, in all of his thousands of years, could he have expected this. Never. He's known just how much Bakura loved Atem and how much Atem loved her back, but nothing could have prepared him for what these two had just done for him.

He looks up into the Bakura's red eyes, remembering how this girl had once faced him on the field of battle and forced him to a standstill. And now, as blood flows from her mouth, she whispers to him, "Live."

And it is such a contrast from her previous last words to him of, "Die," that, for the first time in twelve thousand years, that anger wells up in his chest and feeds his desire to fight. Because how dare the Beast destroy Bakura, his mirror image that was so much better than he'll ever be.

Magic charges into battle against his most hated enemy, Bakura's name as his war cry, and forgets his fear of death just as she had done.

* * *

><p>He realizes it, but gives up before he starts.<p>

He's not good with girls, never has been. But when Bakura takes the wheel and starts up a conversation, the morning life hitting her face at the right angle, he thinks about it. She's pretty, in her own way. Smart enough to keep him interested. And with that hint of mystery that would always keep him guessing.

But he stops himself, glancing into the back seat through the side mirror and remembering that Bakura's taken by the guy in the back seat (if the noises he'd heard last night were any sort of indication). Not to mention that he was a bit old for her. He's read her file, knows that she just turned eighteen less than a month ago.

So he sighs, thumps his head against the window of the car and wonders why the hell life keeps throwing him people that he can't be with. But Bakura nudges him playfully in the arm, Namu Ishtar gives her a smile because, hey, she's still pretty interesting.

* * *

><p>He realizes it, he hates himself for even considering Bakura as an option.<p>

But it's not like he's _blind_. So when she takes off that dumb, baggy hoodie of hers one day during March, complaining about the heat, he does everything in his power not to spit his drink all across the table. Because, _damn_, Bakura's got a body hidden under all that clothing and he'd never known and now things were going to get weird.

Because he knew that his best friend was sort of into this girl from back home and he was too and there was nothing wrong with that or anything. But then there was Bakura and she wasn't supposed to be _that hot_. He doesn't say much of anything, though he thinks Weevil notices his discomfort.

The guy asks him what was up afterwards and he sputters through his explanation because, holy crap, Bakura (whom both of them were convinced was a lesbian at one point because of how she acted around guys the first few months) was a babe and why hadn't they noticed – hell, why hadn't Weevil noticed? Why was he not freaking out about this too? Weevil actually shrugs and scratches his head in confusion, saying that he didn't know why he hadn't really noticed.

So he freaks and tries not to think about Bakura and what she looked like when she wasn't dressed up like the Michelin Man. And then, to make matters worse, the rumours start going around about how she's got a thing for Atem and the girl is doing nothing to deny them and that kind of hurts. Because there's no way that he could ever measure up to the epicness that was The Immortal – just no way at all. But there was no way that Rex Raptor was going to go back on his promise to Weevil about finding a girl together, so maybe it was all just for the best.

* * *

><p>Love is not a sin, but sometimes he thinks it should be.<p>

Is it a sin that he loves her the way that he does? Most likely. Bakura is all he has and will ever think of. He can't remember a moment of his entire, long life that wasn't devoted to thoughts of her. She consumes him and he loves her all the more for it.

He'd die for her, without a second thought if given the opportunity to do so. And she would too because, damn it, that's all she's ever done for him. He remembers how Thief King threw herself between him and that explosion. He remembers how Touzoku changed her path and took an arrow meant for him. He remembers Game Master's shouted words of "Get away! Get back!" before the sword passed through her chest and cut off her voice. He remembers Soul Steeler getting back up, never faltering until the blow that felled her. He remembers Dark God, pressing a kiss to his cheek and walking away on the beach, asking him to live for her. And he remembers Akeifa and the smell of death that permeated the hospital she'd died in.

He remembers holding Bakura in his arms after that Ancient man he'd dismissed as a weak bed warmer for Dartz stabbed her in the heart. She'd leapt in front of him, taking the wound meant for him, before cutting Iona's throat.

He wonders, during the dark hours of the night as the moon illuminates her sleeping form, how much longer he has with her. He's killing her, cutting her life shorter and shorter, every moment he stays with her but is it so wrong that he wants to remain by her side? Is it so wrong that he loves her this much?

But if love is a sin, then Atem doesn't care. Because he's never believed in damnation before and he's not about to start now.

"_The way he looked at you. I got it then. He loved you, and it was killing him. He won't get over you, Clary, he can't." – Cassandra Clare, _City of Glass

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><p><strong>Hello guys!<strong>

**I'd like to thank those who reviewed for the last page: VivienneLaFaye, zukofan2005, and InsanityByDefinition.**

**So over the two years (wow, has it really been that long?) I've been writing The Others Series, I've gotten a few questions asking why I changed Atem's gender to female. My answers to that is, as it has always been, that are that I've always viewed Atem as being a female character and that I've also got a plot related reason for my genderbending as well that I'm not going to say much more about. But what I don't mention is that, in the beginning, I considered making Atem male and having _Bakura_ being the female._  
><em>**

**Genderbending a character is tough. In the words of J.K. Rowling, "Switching gender isn't simply pulling a dress and a pretty name on a boy." And it's not. Female!Atem is much different than how I would have portrayed her if she'd been male. Male!Atem, especially in the dreams, would have been a lot more comfortable in his own skin because he wouldn't have had to go through the emotional confusion that came with being raised as a boy for the first thirteen years of your life and then having to become the perfect daughter in under a week so that you could be married off. Female!Atem had to go through that, and it is because of her father that she doesn't consider herself to be a woman - not that that's a bad thing, it just means that she has a different view on who she is as a person. And that's just one example. There are several more, but that's a story that will come up later.**

**Female!Bakura would be different from her male counterpart as well. Female!Bakura would be a lot more traumatized by Duke and his friends's prank where they tied her up to that poll and left her there over night. Mainly because she was in her underwear (they were a bit more merciful with her than they were with Male!Bakura and let her keep her clothes) and Domino City is not the safest place at night for anyone, let alone a _half naked, drugged up girl_. This is why Rex says that she acted a certain way around guys when she first came to Atlantis - she was convinced that they were all pigs who all thought with their dicks. Marik is literally the first male friend she ever has and even he took a while to get into her good books. After seeing how well, Male!Bakura and Marik hit it off in The First Year, that's one hell of a change (that being said, Kaiba is the first man she trusts).**

**She'd also be physically weaker than Male!Bakura (not being sexist, just citing biology here), so she carries a knife even before going to Atlantis, indicating a higher level of hostility towards people. She's not as forgiving as Male!Bakura is. That being said, h****er crush on Duke was something I would describe as the purest of teenaged loves because it happened before he really noticed her existence. She could play pretend because she knew very little about him, living in her own little world where she could be happy because her imaginary boyfriend was there with her. To those who have ever had a crush on someone whom you never really spoke to, you know what I mean.**

**Female!Bakura and Male!Bakura have a different relationship with Seto Kaiba. Male!Bakura has a hero's worship of him, as he does have some daddy issues that make it so that he doesn't want a father figure in his life. On the other hand, Female!Bakura does view Seto as her father and isn't ashamed to admit it. She loves the guy like a daughter loves her father. And, after a little getting used to it, Seto starts to view her the same way (yes, he is somewhat attracted to her, but not very much and not enough to turn him from Kisara...it's mainly because they look rather similar that he feels the way he does).**

**So why didn't I keep Female!Bakura? I've got a few reasons for that as well. One: the spirits. Coming up with stories for Touzoku, Game Master, Soul Steeler, and Akeifa were down right difficult because they lived in times and countries where having a woman in charge of something was a rarity, unless they were some sort of legend like Female!Atem is (many people do view her as being sexless due to her near-mythical status). Two: I find it incredibly difficult to write from a woman's perspective. Girls are really hard for me to wrap my head around, both in real life and on paper admittedly.  
><strong>

**And finally, three: Amane and Magic. If I had genderbent Bakura, I would have had to do something to Magic. Should I have kept him male or turn him female in order for Female!Bakura to be his/her mirror image? And what about Amane? Would Amane remain a girl as well? Would I have to alter Amane's sexuality from being straight to either bisexual or homosexual? Would Bakura have to be bi-curious at the last in order to be attracted to her? Could I get away with having someone who was essentially _God_ being in a lesbian relationship and not offend too many readers? Or would I keep Magic a man and somehow have to come up with a reason why he and Bakura were mirrors despite the obvious biological differences?**

**Simply put, it was a lot easier if Atem was female and Bakura was male. But the idea still runs around in my head every so often and I thought I'd take a break from writing The Second Year to flesh out that alternate universe a bit.**

**Until next time,**

**AlcatrazOutpatient**


	15. The Girl From Apartment 36C

**The Others: Odd Happenings**

**Disclaimer:** Yu-gi-oh! Duel Monsters is owned by Kazuki Takahashi, Studio Gallop, Nihon Ad Systems, and TV Tokyo. All names were changed to the characters of this fandom in order to protect the real people involved in the following incidents.

* * *

><p><strong>Fifteenth Page:<strong> The Girl From Apartment 36C

_"Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead."  
>- Benjamin Franklin, <em>Poor Richard's Almanack

He knows her as the girl from across the hall – The Girl From Apartment 36C. He's never spoken to her up until this point, only seen her in the elevator on their walks back from school. He's ten. She's sixteen.

He knows that she's got a brother who's a few years older than her. She lives with her dad, an oddly cheerful man who permanently seems to have this look in his eyes. A look that makes it seem like he knows more than he lets on.

He's never spoken to her, never really cares about who she is, until his parent's fifteenth anniversary. Falling on a Friday night, his dad wants to take her out for a romantic dinner and a late night 'stroll through town'. He pretends that he doesn't know that they're talking about sex.

They deserve it, his father says. Just a night to the two of them. Between him having to keep spray-painted penis-motifs off high school lockers and her having to deal with angry commuters not being satisfied with the ten seconds it takes to get them their morning coffee, they do deserve a break.

But it's a last minute decision and the girl that they usually get to watch over hum has already made plans. It had looked bleak for a while before the two of them remembered The Girl From Apartment 36C.

They knock on the door a few minutes later and were greeted by The Brother. He was a big guy, nearly six feet tall and heavily muscled – the body of an athlete. When his mother asks for his sister, he calls over his shoulder, "Serenity! Door!"

"Who is it?" A sweet girly voice answers him. A face looks around from behind the wall that separated the kitchen from the rest of the room, long hair swishing in front of her face.

"Hi," his mother waves. "I…my husband and I live across the hall."

"Mrs. Steps, of course," he's a little surprised that The Girl from Apartment 36C knows their name but they don't know hers.

"We were wondering if you'd be able to babysit our son tonight," his father asks nicely, smoothing the wrinkles out of his old dress shirt.

A look passes between the two siblings and The Brother opens his mouth to say something. But The Girl From Apartment 36C drags him out of sight. There are a few moments of barely hushed whispers before she reappears again.

"We're going to have a few friends over tonight – its nothing big, just a…study thing for school," she hesitates for a moment, her eyes shifting to a large yellow envelop that's sitting on the couch. "But if your son promises not to bother us, he can stay."

"Serenity – " The Brother hisses, eyes a bit frantic.

"Joey," she gives him a look and rubs her two fingers together with her thumb in the symbol for money. His shoulders sink before throwing his hands up in the air in frustration.

"We don't mean to intrude…" his mother, ever the definition of polite, winces.

"No, no. Its fine," The Girl From Apartment 36C smiles again, but this time it seems a little forced. "Does ten bucks an hour sound good?"

His parents look at each other before nodding, "We'll pick Johnny up at midnight, then."

* * *

><p>The Brother's fingers grip the side of the table until his knuckles turn white as The Girl From Apartment 36C grabs a box of Hamburger Helper from the pantry. Johnny glances between the two siblings who look like they're giving each other the silent treatment.<p>

"You guys got anything to do around here?" He asks, hands on his hips.

"Don't you have homework to do, kid?" The Brother snarls at him.

"No," he answers defiantly, knowing full well that he has a whole page full of math questions he needs to complete.

"Bullshit," the guy spits.

The Girl From Apartment 36C gasps, "Joey! Language!"

"Ain't nothing the brat hasn't probably heard before."

"It doesn't make it right," she admonishes him before turning back to Johnny. "Do you have any homework you should be doing?"

She asks so nicely that she squirms and admits that, yes, he does. The Girl From Apartment 36C instructs The Brother to watch over the food as she takes him back to his apartment to grab his books. By the time they return, there is another girl in the room. Her brown hair brushing her shoulders, she pauses half way in removing her white designer jacket and asks who he is.

"This is Johnny, Tea," The Girl From Apartment 36C answers. "We're babysitting him tonight."

She makes the money sign again and The New Girl catches on quickly. Shrugging, she adds, "As long as he doesn't bother us."

Johnny settles down in the kitchen, math textbook and plate of cheese enchiladas in front of him, pencil to graph sheet of paper. As he starts on his second question, two other people walk through the front door and into the already cramped living room. A tall, skinny rich boy who The Girl From Apartment 36C greets with a kiss and a frumpy Asian girl who seems afraid of the shadows on the wall. They too are informed of his presence before responding the exact same way as The New Girl.

Only The Rich Boy voices a concern about it, "Why'd you allow it, though? You're usually the most careful of us all, Serenity."

"We need the money, Duke. Especially if we're going to pull this off," she responds.

"We can – "

"We can't mooch off your parents forever, Duke," The New Girl speaks up. "They're going to notice eventually that someone's been accessing their funds."

Johnny frowns, but shakes his head to clear it. He doubts anything bad was being spoken of in the other room. They were probably just planning something for their school but didn't want to use student funds. Yeah. That was it. Definitely.

And that's when the conversation turned dark.

"So I think I've got someone who can give us what we need," there's a rustling of paper before The Rich Boy speaks again. "That's Sid. He's an ex-con and used to run with Keith and his crew back in the day. He likes to pick up hookers at one of my cousin's clubs, so we've got an easy way in to set up a deal. He can get us what we need and he can get it for us cheep."

"How cheep?" The Asian Girl asks in her thick accent.

"Ten grand," he answers and a groan goes around the room. "Don't be stupid, guys. This _is_ cheep. Do you know what armor-piercing rounds go for normally on the black market? For the amount we're getting, this is a discount."

"We don't have ten grand to spare, man," The Brother interjects.

"And that's why we're taking odd jobs, Joey. Johnny over there is just over a fifth of the cost," Serenity tells him.

"Doesn't mean I have to like it," he grumbles.

"How you get cousin to agree?" The Asian Girl asks.

"He's more of a 'Don't ask. Don't tell' guy. No offense, Joey."

The Brother grunts uncomfortably, but doesn't say a thing.

"I think we're all avoiding the elephant in the room, though," The New Girl says.

There is silence for an achingly long time. And then, "Did another one come in the mail?"

"Yeah. We got it this time," The Girl From Apartment 36C sighs.

"That's all of us, then. Geez, when the guy said that's he'd be getting someone to send us information, he didn't say they'd be creepy about it," The New Girl sounds like she's rolling her eyes.

"I is wondering who Columbus is," The Asian Girl says.

"We're all wondering that, Miho," The Brother's voice seems to soften when speaking to her. Johnny could almost picture the two of them holding hands and eating from the same pile of spaghetti, Lady and the Tramp style. It makes him nauseous.

"We're still ignoring the elephant," The New Girl snaps. "We need to get this to them."

"We've been over this: we can't," The Rich Boy grumbles. "He told us we couldn't."

"Just because…" The New Girl mumbles something – a name, Johnny thinks – before continuing on, "…is the closest thing to a god that we've seen doesn't mean we have to listen to everything he tells us to do."

"That's not just it, Tea. We just can't," The Girl From Apartment 36C sighs.

"We can't just mail it in. What if someone from the other side take it in transit? What if they get a hold of this before the Resistance does? We can't take that risk," The Rich Boy's voice sounds dark and serious beyond anything Johnny has ever heard in his life. It sends a shiver down his spine and makes him wonder just how old the people in the other room were, just how powerful.

"Then we skip the middle step. I've got a car and there's nothing for us here. We could just _go_ to DC and –"

"And what? What, Tea? Go up the front desk at KaibaCorp and ask for a meeting with their CEO. No one would listen to us because we're _god damn teenagers_," The Rich Boy is practically shouting. "And who's to say that the enemy hasn't infiltrated them, too? Who's to say that we don't get killed for just walking in the building? We just can't risk it!"

He stops, breathing heavily for a moment before humourlessly laughing, "Look at us. God, this is fucked up. So fucked up. What are we doing, guys?"

"This is so stupid. We're just kids. How are we even talking like this?" The Brother chuckles, "For God's sake, we're buying cop-killing bullets!"

"We don't have choice. We have to," The Asian Girl grinds her teeth and stands suddenly, by the sound of wood scraping on the floor. "We do this for greater good. We do this because…because it need to be done. We the only ones who can."

"We're the Resistance's sleeper cell. The one they don't even know they have," The Girl From Apartment 36C whispered. And once again, the living room conversation dissolves into silence.

Johnny lets out a breath he doesn't even know he's holding. His hands shake so badly that the tip of the pencil he's been holding has made a complex web design on his page. His eyes are wide because something bad is happening and he doesn't know what but the people in the next room are involved. What should he do? He doesn't know what to do.

"Hey," The Rich Boy speaks up suddenly, his voice cracking. "Remember a few months ago when our biggest problem was not falling asleep in Mr. Harrison's class?"

"Or winning the championship," The Brother lets out a barking sound that might have been intended as a laugh.

The Asian Girl sits back down, the chair sliding back into place, "Or studying for exam."

"Who's dating who," The New Girl sighs wistfully.

"Just getting our homework done," The Girl From Apartment 36C sounds like she is on the verge of tears.

"Why don't I want to go back to that?" The Rich Boy asks, not even understanding his own thoughts.

It is The Brother who answers, "Because…because they took Tristan from us."

Johnny can hear the guy's fingers clenching in the fabric of his jeans, the denim straining against the new pressure. And then he speaks again.

"Duke, we'll cover five grand, you cover the other half. When we get the money, set up the meet with this Sid guy. We're gonna need anything we can get from him."

"Tea," The Rich Boy says, "you know –"

"I know we can't. Doesn't mean I have to like it. But I know. Better question: what are we going to do with the information?" The New Girl asks.

"Read it. Each one of us will take a section and memorize it – that way, if one of us gets caught, they won't be able to get the entire story. Then we burn the pages," The Rich Boy orders.

"We need training. Physical training. Training on how to fight and run and survive," The Girl From Apartment 36C adds.

"Football," The Brother interjects. "I can teach you all how to tackle and run fast – run with weight on your back. Dodging and weaving. Evasion stuff."

"Good thinking! In cheerleading, we learned how to throw people and do backflips. Stuff like that. It could be useful," The New Girl sounds excited.

"I can shoot gun well," The Asian Girl tells them. "I can give tips."

"Good! Good! This is all really good! God – first aid! I took a refresher course a little while back. I can show you what to do," The Rich Boy laughs, and this time its with confidence and strength.

"I'm really good at acting," The Girl From Apartment 36C whispers. "I can teach you how to lie."

"We can do this," The Rich Boy breathes. "We don't need fancy training or powers. We can do this. We _will_ do this."

"They won't know what hit 'em," The Brother's grin is almost audible in his voice.

"Of course, they won't. Who'd expect a bunch of teenagers?" The Girl From Apartment 36C laughs.

"Forget teenagers. Who'd expect a bunch of _Normals_?" The New Girl sneers, "No one. They'd completely dismiss us. And that's our advantage."

Johnny hears their hands slap on top of each other, meeting in the center to take a pledge.

"For Tristan," The Rich Boy hisses.

"For everyone that died that day," The Girl From Apartment 36C adds on.

"And everyone who didn't," The New Girl says, sounding a bit distant.

There's a knock at the door and The Girl From Apartment 36C opens it up. It's his parents and he's never been happier to see them in his entire life.

But as his mother hands over a few green bills to the girl's awaiting hands and Johnny is shakily packing up his books, The Brother comes into the kitchen and gives him a steely look.

"Whatever you heard tonight doesn't see the light of day, understand," he growls.

"I didn't hear a thing," Johnny whispers, panicked and frightened.

"Good answer," The Brother grabs him by the collar of his shirt and hauls him up with a single hand. "Because I know where you sleep at night."

Johnny doesn't get a single wink of sleep that night, jumping at every single bump in the darkness. And the next morning, when he sees The Girl From Apartment 36C in the hallway, she smiles at him. It takes all of his courage not to run screaming to his mother like when he was five and just had a nightmare.

_"Fear cuts deeper than swords."  
>- George R. R. Martin, <em>A Game of Thrones

* * *

><p><strong>Hey guys!<strong>

**I'd like to thank those who reviewed for the last chapter: Aqua girl 007, zukofan2005, and InsanityByDefinition.**

**So the Normals from Domino High have been up to a few things since Bakura's been gone. This took place about a week into June of 2017, almost a month after prom. A few days after this takes place, Miho was expelled from Domino High for carrying a pistol on campus (she'd been the to firing range a few days earlier and had forgotten that it was in her bag). And poor Johnny Steps (yeah, _that_ Johnny Steps) remains absolutely terrified of the family that lives across the way. He doesn't say a damn thing, though.**

**He tried, though. Once. He tried to tell his parents, but Magic used Fate to seal his mouth shut. He hasn't tried since.**

**Hope you are all having a really good week!**

**Until next time,**

**AlcatrazOutpatient**


	16. Fatherhood

**The Others: Odd Happenings**

**Disclaimer:** Yu-gi-oh! Duel Monsters is owned by Kazuki Takahashi, Studio Gallop, Nihon Ad Systems, and TV Tokyo. All names were changed to the characters of this fandom in order to protect the real people involved in the following incidents.

_To the young man  
><em>_Whom I saw today  
><em>_A caring father  
><em>_A loving soul_

* * *

><p><strong>Page Sixteen: Fatherhood<strong>

_"I watched a small man with thick calluses on both hands work fifteen and sixteen hours a day. I saw him once literally bleed from the bottoms of his feet, a man who came here uneducated, alone, unable to speak the language, who taught me all I needed to know about faith and hard work by the simple eloquence of his example."  
><em>_- Mario Cuomo_

Joseph Wheeler was never supposed to amount to much of anything. He'd been fucked over since the beginning. As much as the talking heads on the news and the politicians in the White House liked to say things about rags-to-riches stories, that you can do anything if you have enough will, there's nothing like that in his future. America, land of the free, _his ass_.

To succeed you needed money and a lot of it. Not only that, you needed to be born with the stuff. You needed a fucking advantage above all the little people or you weren't going to go anywhere in life. So wasn't it just great that he'd started at rock bottom? He was going nowhere. He'd never be going anywhere. Hell, no one that was born in the Highbridge neighborhood of the Bronx ever did.

It was a hole that no one seemed to escape. Joseph's family had been living in the same four blocks since long before his grandparents were born. They were one of the few white families left in the area - the original Irish immigrants had been overwhelmed by the Mexicans and the blacks in the sixties.

He'd been running for the Ikes since he'd been eight years old. It was a lot more profitable then the paper route, that was for sure. Dangerous, yeah, because the local gangs never seemed to be at peace with one another and declaring open allegiance was a stupid move for a kid like him. But he took what money he could make and put it towards his parent's rent cheque each month. He never brought up where he got the cash and they never asked. They couldn't afford to.

His home was a tiny apartment that overlooked a vacant lot that the government had torn down after it fell victim to the arson wave that had rattled the neighborhood ten years prior. His playground was an abandoned warehouse where his friends played Cowboys and Indians, practicing shooting each other for a future that would probably reflect the game in startling reality. Joseph makes a gun with his thumb and index finger and points it at his brother, smiling as he 'pulls the trigger'.

His school didn't do its job in educating him. He started reading books written at the third grade level when he turned eleven. Math confuses him beyond anything else and he can't wrap his mind around science to save his life. But it isn't that Joseph's stupid - he has been doing oil changes since he was ten. He's got a mental map of the Ikes territory, complete with side alleys and hiding spots to escape the cops. He was smart, just in areas that weren't taught in school.

And then things go wrong. He starts drinking and gets sloppy. He gets busted for breaking and entering one night when he's thirteen. Joseph growls and snaps at his arresting officers, demanding his lawyer over and over again, getting more offensive each time. _He should have known better_, damn it. He should have trusted his gut. There was no way the old buzzard was supposed to be home. The lady's kid had been stealing the Ikes's dope and he'd been sent to check. But she wasn't supposed to be home, let alone wake enough at two in the morning to call the fucking cops.

Joseph gets a harsh judge, some city boy raised on his father's knee with a silver spoon feeding him through law school. He's pretty damn sure that the Frenchmen or the Roman Lords or some other gang was bankrolling the old man, but that doesn't matter because the fucker gives him eight months. For god sake, he's a minor with no criminal record - he should be getting community service not jail time. But some rival gang wanted to send a message and he was going to take the fall.

Great. Just _great_.

Jail is genuinely frightening. He's trapped in a building with actual offenders - crazy drug addicts, freakishly violent thugs, and an actual fucking murderer. Joseph gets lucky and ends up sharing his cell with a sixteen-year-old kid named Lestor who's in for carrying around a couple ounces of marijuana in a plastic bag.

"Had I been older, the judge would have given me five more years," he snorts one night, leaning against the stone wall of their cell. "But I turn eighteen soon. I'll be released then, if not sooner for being a 'model prisoner' or whatever shit my lawyer sells to the parole board."

But Lestor keeps him out of trouble; out of fights that would put a black mark on his record and get him a longer stay. It was always, "Keep away from them, blonde. They'll fuck you up" - helpful advice like that. When his eight months are up, a fifteen-year-old Joseph is genuinely sad to leave his new friend behind.

"Gonna miss you," he admits, scratching his neck as he shifts his weight from side to side.

"Nah, blonde. Get out 'a here. Live your life. And don't you dare come back," Lestor laughs as the cell doors swing shut once more and the guards escort Joseph to the main gates.

He gets wind that Lestor had been killed in a fight a few months later. That is the first time Joseph gets piss drunk. It won't be his last.

* * *

><p>He meets Jennifer Moss, fourteen years old and very pretty, in the halfway house that he stays in after his release. She's the daughter of the guy who runs it. To him, she's the good-natured little girl who's got a thing for the bad boys. To the inhabitants of the house, she's their dealer.<p>

"So what are you into, Joey?" She asks on his first night, "Weed? Acid? 'Cause I can get it for you."

"Babe, unless you can pull off twenty-one, you can't get my drug all on your own," he laughs, stretching out on the bed he was given. His dirty blonde hair, still wet from the shower, sticks to the back of his neck. "And it's Joseph - not Joey."

"Alcohol? Seriously? Never took ya' for a drunk. That's just lame," she snorts. He gets a flash just then - one of his feelings - and thinks that he's going to like this chick.

"Hear your here for a B&E. Forget what I said about ya' being lame for being a drunk. Being in jail for picking a few locks - now that's just stupid," she gives him a look that he thinks is supposed to be flirtatious. He's never really been able to read girls - hell, he hasn't even seen one in eight months.

"You gonna help with my re-integration into society, babe?" He grins back at her.

"Pu-lease. Fat chance, I can do so much better then you," she puts her hands on her tiny little waist and throws him a look. "I'll get you your stuff, though. Just get me the cash."

Joseph gets another one of his feelings and, for some reason, this one tells him that Jennifer is going to cause him more then his fair share of pain.

They banter back and forth with each other, him overly flirtatious and her overly spiteful. The owner threatens him with bodily harm if he goes anywhere near his daughter and his parole officer keeps reminding him about the Alcoholics Anonymous program that's running out of the basement of a local church. Joseph doesn't understand why he keeps doing that. There's nothing wrong with him at all. He doesn't need help.

Jennifer is in his bed by the end of the year, her auburn hair spread across his pillow and practically screaming his name. And while he knows that this is nowhere near heaven, it's probably the closest Joseph is ever going to get.

* * *

><p>After getting out of the halfway house almost a year later, going to school just seems fucking idiotic. Joseph argues with his parents over his choice to drop out and he's dismissal about pretty much everything until they bring Jennifer into it.<p>

They accuse her of being a slut and he ends the discussion by punching his father in the jaw. The man kids him to the curb and slams the door in his face. Joseph picks himself up off the curl and stays with one of his old gang buddies, who tries to convince him to come back into the game. But he remembers Lestor and his promises and can't. He applies to a bunch of places and gets a job working full time at grocery store, changing the stock on the shelves.

Jennifer moves in shortly afterwards after having an argument with her father. The next morning he wakes up to find her tripping out on the floor of his kitchen.

"...The hell? Jen? What - what the fuck is wrong with you?" He spots an open plastic bag and a straw beside and assumes the worst.

"Seriously?! Damn it, you're supposed to be the dealer. I can't deal with this kind of shit," he grumbles and leaves her there to ride out her high. He's got to get to work.

Jennifer's clearly pissed when she gets back, but can't really summon up the energy to do much after her trip. He gets his revenge by drinking himself into a stupor and leaving her to deal with his drunken ass. He thinks they might have fucked during that time, but can't really be sure. Things got really hazy after his eighth beer.

But that morning, when he wakes up with a splitting headache and curses the sun's simple existence, he finds Jennifer there beside him, her arm slung over his chest. And Joseph thinks that he might love this crazy girl.

* * *

><p>Jennifer's pregnant. Holy fucking shit. Jennifer is pregnant.<p>

This wasn't supposed to happen. This was never supposed to happen. It wasn't his fault that condoms were so damn expensive, but she'd said that it was one of her safe days - whatever that meant - so it was supposed to have been okay. But it wasn't. She was pregnant.

_Holy shit, Jennifer was pregnant._

They don't have the cash to pay for an abortion and he isn't going to let her go old school and use a clothes hanger. She's overly emotional and yells at him for being such a dick because of course he had to cum inside her, the stupid fucker. Joseph yells back and says that, well, if she wasn't begging for his cock all the time this wouldn't be a problem.

Eventually, when things calm down between the two of them, they decide that they'll give the brat up for adoption when it's born. They don't have the money to buy all the shit that comes with babies, let alone the ability to take time off of work. It's what's best for everyone. It's not like they asked for this to happen to them or anything.

But as the months go on, Joseph is plagued by dreams involving a little boy walking beside him, his gloved hand in his own. From under his woolen hat pokes the same dirty blonde that he possesses, but when the boy looks up it is Jennifer's eyes that stare back up at him.

It takes several talks, a second and third job, and a whole tonne of purchasing to convince Jennifer that maybe they could actually keep the kid. The dreams continue to come to him at night and, every morning, he wakes up with his hangover and sees her stomach getting a little rounder and a smile makes it's way onto his face.

Jennifer's father comes over one morning, determined to bring her home and sees the baby bulge. The man nearly tears Joseph's head off, attacking him with a frying pan he grabs out of the sink. When she threatens to call the cops on him, the guy drops the pan. He insists on the two of them marrying, because he "ain't having none that new age common-law shit." His daughter would not be giving birth to a bastard.

The ceremony isn't even a ceremony. It's the man dragging them up in front of a judge and signing a piece of paper. They're rings are cheap, dollar store quality bands but it's the only thing they can afford. It's the last he ever hears of his father-in-law.

* * *

><p>Watching Jennifer give birth is worse then prison. Seriously, he'd rather be locked up with drug-addicted crazies and freaky murderers then watching her force another human being out from between her legs. She curses him to hell and back, but after it's all over, she's too tired to even move.<p>

Jennifer falls asleep before the doctors cut the baby's umbilical cord and proclaim, "It's a boy."

Joseph holds his son like he's made of glass. He stares at the baby boy, all wrapped in blankets and realizes that, _my god_, this was the boy from his dreams. His son...he'd seen his son before he'd been born.

"...s'not going to break if you breath, Joe," he hears Jennifer laugh meekly. He turns and sees her crack open an eyelid.

"A boy. He's a boy," he says breathlessly. "We've got a son."

"Really?" She hums. "What are we gonna call 'em?"

"I-I don't know," he whispers, still staring at this tiny pink thing that is somehow his.

"Mmm. How 'bout Joey?"

"What?"

"Called you Joey when we first met. Name him that," Jennifer sighs, straightening. "Give 'em here. I wanna hold him too."

He passes the newly minted Joey over to his wife and watches her cradle him in her arms. And Joseph would swear that he'd never seen a sight so beautiful before.

* * *

><p>Joey is crying again.<p>

"Fucking hell! Can't the brat just shut up?!" Jennifer groans, getting out of bed for what seems like the umpteenth time that night. Joseph rolls over and stuffs his head under the pillow to drown out the sound of wailing child.

"_Shut up!_" She roars from the corner where they set up a makeshift cradle thing. Joey's cries only seem to increase. Joseph thumps his fist against the mattress in frustration. He didn't sign up for this. He was only eighteen, damn it. He shouldn't have to deal with crying babies.

But then he's hit by a feeling of guilt. He did sign up for this, when he convinced Jennifer to have this kid. He's got a responsibility now. He can't just go shirking things because he doesn't want to deal with them. Joseph rolls out from under the blankets and walks over to where Jennifer is standing.

"Here, let me deal with this," he murmurs softly.

"You better. I can't take anymore of this screaming. I can't tell what the stupid thing wants!" She snaps before throwing herself back in bed. Joseph gathers the wailing Joey into his arms and takes him out into the hallway of their apartment.

He walks into the stairwell, sitting down on one of the rusted steps. He hums the Goo Goo Dolls and Pearl Jam under his breath and Joey calms down, tiny little hands curling in his shirt. Joseph stays there much longer then he has to, just enjoying the silence and breathing of his son.

The next morning he has off and decides to take Joey to the park. They don't have enough money to pay for a carriage, so Joseph just holds him in his arms. They sit on a park bench together and watch those that pass by.

Sometimes, Joseph talks to him, sometimes her doesn't. He doesn't say anything negative, just comments like, "And that's a tree, Joey. One day, when you're old enough, you can climb one of them. Just be careful about where you put your feet alright? Don't want you getting hurt." He smiles and hums the tunes on the radio and thinks that he's never been closer to heaven then he is now.

* * *

><p>Jennifer falls pregnant again just over a year later and he'll never admit to her that it really is his fault this time. Yes, they don't have enough money to support two kids but damn it, he really likes being a dad. He's been getting dreams again. This time, not only is Joey walking with him, but also he's got a little girl who's a splitting image of her mother beside him.<p>

He'd been pretty sure that he'd gotten a new box of condoms after the old ones expired, but he'd been wrong. They were only a few months before the best before date. It wasn't like that was going to make much of a difference. Right?

Yeah, smart move dumbass. Now Jennifer is more pissed at him then ever because they just don't have the resources and Joey's going to have to go to school soon and what kind of moron is he that he doesn't know that _expired condoms aren't supposed to fucking go on his dick!_

Unlike before, Jennifer doesn't go through her entire pregnancy without using. He catches her in the fifth month with a bag of cocaine and spends the entire day screaming at her for being so stupid. She tells her that he isn't much better, spending all of their rent money on Jack Daniels last month and now they're in shit with their landlord who's threatening to kick them out.

He gets wasted that night, not able to deal with her in her stupid hormonal moments. He doesn't remember much of that night, but one instances comes through more clearly then anything else.

Joseph is sprawled on the couch, half hanging off with bottle in hand. He sees Joey watching that new Disney movie, Mulan, watching as the cartoon characters sang that really catchy tune about manliness and the moon when the little boy comments about how he really likes Shang.

Jennifer explodes on him, yelling that he better shut the fuck up because she's not having a fucking faggot in her house on top of a lazy-ass husband and another fucking monster in her belly. She never wanted this life and if Joey makes another stupid comment about Shang she's going to leave him with the creep downstairs who makes porn for a living.

When he's finally sobered enough to move again, Joseph rounds on his wife. How dare she talk to their son that way?! He's just a kid! He doesn't know anything! How dare she threatened him?!

"My son? My son? I never wanted the brat, it was all you!" She screams back at him, "I gave up everything for you and this is what I get?! Go suck a dick, Joe! I hate you!"

But that night, they're all apologies and soft words of, "I'm sorry for yelling, Jen," and "I didn't mean it, Joe. Really". Joseph knows that they're all lies, but he pretends because for some reason he still loves her. And he knows, once again, that he's never been destined to see heaven, but this is probably as far from it as he's ever going to get.

* * *

><p>He's not surprised when the doctor announces that they have a daughter now. What is he surprised about is Jennifer naming her after his mother, Serenity. The two of them had met only once and that hadn't ended well for anyone. What possessed her to name their daughter after the woman is beyond him, but the name just fits.<p>

But it is as Serenity grows up that he notices that something is very wrong. Not only can she not tell the difference between the red and grey crayons, but also she sometimes can't even see them when they're right in front of her face. He worries endlessly, thinking only about plastic bags and white powder.

But she doesn't think anything of it. According to her, Serenity's just slow. But he knows it's something more - he can feel it. There's something very, very wrong with her and he needs to fix it. And to fix it, he needs money.

So Joseph does the only thing that he can do to free up enough cash - he stops drinking.

In that moment, he puts his children first and finds every bottle he has hidden around the house and _pores the contents down the sink_. He spends the next few days going through some serious withdrawal symptoms but he toughs them out because he has to find out what wrong with his little girl. It's almost six months before he saves enough money to take her to the eye doctor to get her tested.

The results scare him more than prison, more than watching Jennifer give birth. Serenity is going blind.

They have no idea what the illness is, but it's degenerative and she won't be able to see by the time she turns thirteen. Joseph stares at his hands for a little bit before glancing at Joey, who he took with him for just this occasion, and asks quietly if he'd take Serenity out of the room to look at the toys that have been stacked in a corner of the waiting room.

As the door closes, he looks at the doctor and says, "My wife is a cocaine addict. She was using while she was pregnant. Could that have done something?"

The man takes off his glasses and cleans them as he speaks, "It's possible. Cocaine use during pregnancy has been known to cause birth defects. And you say that neither of your families' have a history of ocular diseases?"

"Ocu-what?"

"Eye problems," the man is patient and doesn't make him feel stupid for being in his twenties and still asking what words mean.

"I don't really know about Jen's family, but...not mine. Not even my grandparents need glasses."

Well, he wasn't so sure about his dad's dad. He'd never met the man. Something about a family dispute of some kind.

"I wouldn't rule it out, but all indicators do point to your wife," the doctor sighs. "I can give you the names of a few specialists that I know. They might be able to help. But, to be honest, Mr. Wheeler, if there's an operation that could help her, it's going to be expensive."

Joseph swallows hard, "I'll come up with something."

* * *

><p>When he comes home that day, he sees a line of white crystals on the table, more coarse then anything he's seen Jennifer use before, and sees red. It is all he can do to make sure Joey takes his sister to their room before he explodes with anger.<p>

How dare she?! How dare she dare use the very thing that was causing their daughter to go blind to fucking get high? This is her fault - her's not his! He shoves the test results in her face and cuts into her with the worst words he knows because how dare she do this to Serenity?

She counters with her own words, forever blaming him for forcing her into this life that she never wanted, "I never wanted the kids! _I never wanted any of this!_ Go to hell, Joe! This is your fault as much as mine, you damn drunk!"

"If you hate me so much, then why are you still here?" He yells, "Why don't you just leave?!"

"Well maybe I will!"

"Go ahead! The last thing Joey and Serenity needs is you are their mother!"

"Hah, like you're any better!" Jennifer laughs, "You're just as bad as me. Who's going to take care of them when daddy's passed out on the couch and smells like beer!"

"If you'd been paying the _slightest_ bit of attention to me, you'd know I haven't touched the bottle in six months," he hisses and she recoils as if she'd been struck. That was something she'd never expected, that Joseph had moved beyond his addiction.

"W-what?"

"I stopped drinking. I stopped _six months ago_ in order to save up money to go to the eye doctor. I did it for my daughter, Jen. What have you done for her?"

She stammers, searching for words, "I'm her mother -"

"No you're not," everything seems to damn clear now, like the fog had lifted. "Carrying her around for nine months, popping her out of your vagina - that isn't what makes you a mother. Giving a fucking damn - that's what makes you a mother. Making sacrifices for your kids - that's what makes you a parent. What have you sacrificed for Serenity? Nothing."

He takes a breath and says the final cutting thing of the evening, "You sacrificed her sight for a fucking high, Jen. _How dare you_."

She tears up, before rushing into their shared bedroom. He can hear the sound of her crying, but does nothing to change that fact. He simply waits until she's gathered all her belongings, knowing that this is what everything had been coming to after all these years. Joseph stops her before she leaves completely and asks for her key.

She hands it over to him, not saying a single word. And that is the last time that Joseph Wheeler ever sees Jennifer Moss.

* * *

><p>He starts to frantically call people, asking for money. He considers, for a moment, calling his old gang friends but then shoves it into the back of his mind, swearing to only use that as a last resort. Joseph runs through his first few hopefuls before stealing himself and punching in the digits he knows belong to that of his parents.<p>

His mother is the one that picks up, "Hello?"

"Mom," his whispers, having almost forgotten what her voice sounded like.

"Jo-Joseph?" She breathes into the microphone.

"Hey, mom. I'm in a lot of trouble and I need some help."

"Son," the sound of his father's voice comes through the channel. "Where are you? It's not -"

"I'm not calling from lock up. I'm...I'm in my apartment. And I need some money."

"After all this time...after everything you did... Money? That's what you call us for? Money?! Joseph Wheeler, don't you ever think -"

"I'm not doing this for me, dad," he tries to explain, but is cut off again.

"For one of your gang buddies then? I thought we taught you better then this -"

"I'm doing it for your granddaughter!" Joseph yells and then there is silence. Complete and utter silence.

"Granddaughter? But, your brother, he doesn't have..."

"She isn't Wayne's. She's mine," his throat tightens as he forces the words out. "Her name is...its Serenity. Serenity Wheeler. And she's going blind. I need money for her surgery."

"You have a child?" He can't tell which astonished voice that was, but the utter amazement in it is portrayed quite obviously.

"Two, actually. There's Joey - he's the older of the two. Really protective of his sister. He looks just like you, dad. And there's Serenity. And she's beautiful and I can't let this happen to her," he begs. "Please, anything you can spare. I just want her to be able to see."

"Where are you?" His father asks.

"In the apartment complex that's about three blocks west of the old warehouse I used to play in as a kid," he explains.

"We'll be there in twenty," and with that his father hangs up the phone. Fifteen minutes later, there's a knock at the door and Joseph falls into the arms of his parents.

"I'm sorry," he whispers. "I'm so, so sorry."

"It's okay," his mother tells him. She looks up and over his shoulder, staring at the small head of hair that popped around the corner, "Is that...?"

"Joey," Joseph smiles. "Come here. There's some people I want you to meet. These are your grandparents."

The little boy looks at the two new people who just walked into his life as Serenity peaks from their shared room, ears attentive because her eyes can't see. Then Joey grins, "Hi! Wanna play football?"

It is all that his parents can do to not burst out into tears of happiness.

* * *

><p>Joseph's parents go one step further than giving him money. They put him in contact with a specialist that wasn't on the eye doctor's list - a certain Dr. Goyu. They met a few years ago when the man volunteered at the local hospital (his grandmother had had a stroke, of all things) and had become fast friends.<p>

And Joseph is convinced that this man is a gift from God himself. Not only can he identify what Serenity has, but thinks he has a treatment that can reverse it.

"But," the man says and Joseph's hands clench in his jeans at the thought of a catch, "it hasn't been tested on humans yet."

"What do you mean?"

"It works nine times out of ten on the mice we've tested the procedure on, but as similar as they are to us, mice aren't humans. There is a possibility that this might fail. And if it does, the damage will be permanent," Dr. Goyu explains.

"But it could work?" He asks.

The man stares at him for a moment, seeing the utter _desperation_ in his eyes, before answering, "Yes."

"Then let's do it. How much?"

"For you, dear boy," Dr. Goyu laughs, "I'll do it for free."

His jaw drops, "W-what?"

"I'm not charging you. By agreeing to this, you're essentially signing your daughter up to be part of a voluntary medical study. I see no reason to charge you an arm and a leg in order for me to prove a hypothesis," he says.

"But...but, I thought – the operation -"

"Voluntary medical study, Mr. Wheeler. That's what we're going to label it as. Besides," he winked, "I owe your mother a few favors. Consider this me paying her back."

Joseph is very not in control about how his body leaps up and hugs the man until he's blue in the face. He's also not in control of the way he cries like an infant on Dr. Goyu's shoulder in thanks.

* * *

><p>Dr. Goyu works out of an office in a place called Domino City (and when he first hears of the place, all he can think of is a strange boy with white hair and red eyes and the one singular idea that he was somehow important), so it only seems logical to relocate over there. His parents insist on it, making it easier for Serenity to go to her pre- and post-op check ups. Joseph informs his landlord of his intent to leave and the man gives him the name of a woman who rents apartments in that city, telling him that she'll take care of him.<p>

His parents help him move and all the while praising him on how well he's raised his two utterly wonderful children. Neither of them asks who or where their mother is. Something tells him that they already know. After all, Serenity does look like a mirror image of Jennifer.

Joseph studies and takes the test to get his GED. His final score isn't exactly the best in the world, but it's not too shabby either. He passes and holds the equivalent to a high school diploma in his hands, realizing how many doors this opens up to him.

He gets a job as a mechanic. He goes to an AA meeting because he's still having cravings and he needs help to get better for Joey and Serenity. He calls up his old parole officer, just to tell the old bastard that he was right. He gets a laugh and an invite to grab some coffee sometime out of that conversation.

He watches his son go to school. He sees his daughter through her surgery. He watches her eyes light up for the first time when Serenity is finally able to see him in detail and not just as a blur - "So that's what you look like" - and it makes him so utterly _proud_ of them.

So when his daughter introduces him to a boy from her brother's school, the tall, lanky, green-eyed Duke Devlin, and he gets a feeling that this boy is completely and utterly in love with Serenity, Joseph smiles.

Because he's no longer trapped by the neighbors of Highbridge or the gun-totting Ikes. Because he's no longer trapped by the walls of a prison and taught to keep his head down in order to survive. Because he's no longer bound in a relationship where love was shown in who could throw the hardest punch.

Because he's Joseph Wheeler and all those things that are no in his past have shaped into who he was today. And if given the chance, there wasn't a single thing that he would ever change.

_"One night a father overheard his son pray: Dear God, Make me the kind of man my Daddy is. Later that night, the Father prayed, Dear God, Make me the kind of man my son wants me to be."  
><em>_- Unknown_

* * *

><p><strong>Hello again guys!<strong>

**I'd like to thank ilovemanicures for reviewing for the last chapter! Continue to rock on, girl!**

**So I'd like to share a bit of a personal story with you guys about something that I saw today. To get to school, I have to walk through an area of two that, demographically, is not the most wealthy of places. The buildings are ill-mantained, the windows boarded, the grass unkept. Its the type of neighbourhood where you look around the corner before you walk in front of an alley. But there's this park in the middle of it all that has a large statue of a man sitting Lincoln-monument style in the center. **

**And today, while I was walking through this park and there was a man and his two year old son. He had the same hair, same facial features, same clothing, same everything as Joseph Wheeler. His son wanted to look at the monument, so he started explain about how this person was incredibly important to the founding of the town. And that would be something that Joseph would do.**

**I saw one of my characters in real life today and, for once, I didn't feel like I was going insane. If anything, I saw someone and something beautiful.**

**So that's why I dedicated this page to him because, even though I don't know him, he is an inspiration just by being as good a father as he is even though he is so young. I really hope I see him again, just to say something - anything to him. To thank him maybe or just to say hi.**

**But that's enough about my day. I'd love to hear what you guys are thinking after reading _Fatherhood_, which is almost a companion piece to Natsuki's piece _Motherhood._ Now that I'm thinking about it, I'd love to see how those two would react to each other. Not in a shipping-relationship kind of way, but a 'sit down over a coffee and talk about our day' kind of way.**

**Until next time,**

**AlcatrazOutpatient**


	17. Love at First Strike

**The Others: Odd Happenings**

**Disclaimer:** Yu-gi-oh! Duel Monsters is owned by Kazuki Takahashi, Studio Gallop, Nihon Ad Systems, and TV Tokyo. All names were changed to the characters of this fandom in order to protect the real people involved in the following incidents.

_Dearest Stephanie  
>Happy birthday!<br>If you were Canadian  
>You'd be legal and as per tradition,<br>I'd have to take you out drinking.  
>But you're American<br>Therefore the laws are different.  
>And I don't drink,<br>So that's not really happening  
>(No matter how funny drunk you might be)<br>I came up with this instead  
>And something tells me<br>You'd appreciate it more.  
>Continue being awesome, darling!<br>- Lor_

* * *

><p><strong>Seventeenth Page: Love At First Strike<strong>

"_When a heart finds another, what's a cloud more or less in the sky?"  
>- Wolf and Page<em>

Her first memories are, quite literally, of him staring down at her with his big white eyes. She blinks. He blinks. A breath is taken.

Then she screams, terrified beyond belief, and slams her fist into the side of his jaw. He goes down hard, all bones on the tile floor as she scrambles backwards off the table and into a corner. He props himself up on his elbows, staring owlishly at her from where he lies. She shakes and shivers and wonders what is going on.

Sound comes out of his mouth. She can tell it's organized, that it probably means something, but doesn't understand it at all. She covers her ears to block it out because it scares her almost as much as he does. When he does the same thing again, she squeezes her eyes shut because just seeing his lips move is enough to confuse her.

He gets up, but stays low to the ground in an attempt to make himself seem less threatening. She curls in on herself even more, shivering slightly in the cold air of the room. There's a red mark on the side of his jaw where she'd hit him. He approaches slowly, hands out in front of him in a sign of good will. He makes the sound with his mouth again and she whines slightly in distress.

Eventually, he gets close enough that he's within striking distance again. She lashes out once more, but this time he's ready and grabs her wrist in mid air with astonishing grace. Something rumbles beneath his skin, something that is both ancient and terribly wonderful at the same time. He pauses, thumb brushing against her pulse. His eyes train suddenly towards where his skin touches hers and his breath hitches in his throat.

But then he shakes his head as if to clear it of unwanted thoughts. The sounds comes out of his mouth for a third and final time, but this time, with the thumb that softly caresses her wrist, she stays calm. He blinks, smiling shyly as his face pinks, and then tentatively reaches for her face. Right before his fingers touch her temple, she quickly snatches her hand out of his grip and latches onto his own wrist. She'll trust him for the moment, but if he gives her a reason to doubt him, she'll retaliate.

He gets the message, swallowing hard with the bump of his neck bobbing up and down. His fingers touch the skin on the side of her head and his eyes close. Then his mind flows into hers.

And suddenly, she knows everything. She can speak the language, understands the words. She can recite the history of The People that he lived amongst for almost nine hundred years. She knows their customs and laws and everything, everything, everything.

Her eyes widen and, for the first time, she realizes her own nakedness. She blushes, covering herself with her hands.

"H-hello?" He stammers, eyes locked on her own, "Do you...u-understand me now?"

"Yes," she says, but is unable to hold his gaze. The way he looks at her makes her feel somewhat uncomfortable. It's far too akin to worship for her liking.

His lips break out into a smile that stretches from ear to ear. He shifts in his crouch, trying to find a position that is more comfortable, before giving up and sitting down. He crosses his legs and leans forwards, leaving them almost nose-to-nose. He shakes with excitement. She thinks he's a bit weird.

"Hello!" He says again, this time with more confidence.

"Hi," she responds back to this strange being, trying to shift away from him. He laughs, overjoyed, through she doesn't understand why he'd be as such. She just wants him to stop staring.

"Do you want to play with me?" He asks, still grinning. His hands fidget in his lap and he begins to rock back and forth. He's almost unable to sit still. She'd find it endearing if she wasn't so freaked out by him.

"No," she answers stiffly. His smile drops faster then she could blink.

For the first time since she opened her's, his eyes leave their lock on her face and slide over to the side. He seems to wilt and she wonders if she said the wrong thing.

"W-w-why? I just...I've never played a g-game before. It's always tests with the sc-scientists... Tests and experiments and 'Make this move with your mind' and 'How high can you jump?' Why won't you -"

"I'm naked," she snaps at him, but she's not really angry. She just really wants to put some clothes on.

He tenses, eyes suddenly very, very wide. They slide back to her but this time his gaze lands much lower than her face. His cheeks burn red and a strangled sound comes out of his mouth as he realizes for what seems like the first time ever that, yes, she is naked. Very naked.

He slaps a hand over his eyes and scrambles backwards as fast as he can. His head shakes back and forth as he stammers, "I-I'm sorry! I didn't...didn't see anything, I swear! Really! I'm so, so sorry!"

"Just...could you get me something to wear?" She whispers. He nods before tripping his way onto his feet and running off into another room. As the sound of clothing hangers running against a metal poll begin to echo throughout the high-ceilinged room, she hears him continue to speak.

"I'm really, really sorry. I didn't r-realize. I-I should h-h-have and I'm sorry," he pauses for breath before launching back into his monologue. "I'm... Well, the scientists call me Subject X...or just X, for short. B-but I don't really like that. I don't think it's my n-name. I've never actually had a name before. I just don't like X, but if you want to call me X, I-I don't think I'd mind it. You can call me whatever you want."

"Do I have a name?" She asks as he comes back into the room, eyes still covered and cheeks still red. He holds out some white fabric and it looks similar to the scratchy white scrubs he seems to be wearing. As she unfolds and hesitantly walks towards him, he swallows hard and answers.

"Uh, well, I've just been calling you... Um, you don't have to use it i-if you don't want to...it's really just your choice. B-but…I've been calling you...Heavenly Sound."

She blinks, trying to process that information. He takes her silence as dislike.

"Really, you don't have to u-use it! It was a...stupid idea anyways. I shouldn't have-"

"Heavenly Sound," she tests the name out on her tongue. She slips on the pants he hands her and nods, "I think I'll keep it."

He almost forgets that she's still changing and removes his blindfold of a hand, but remembers at the last moment. He can't keep the grin off of his face regardless, "That's...that's great!"

"You can look now," she tells him as the hem of the shirt reaches her waistline. And he does, staring just as intensely as before. She crosses her arms over her chest and tilts her head to the side as she gauges him.

"Why don't you like X?" She questions. He shuffles nervously from side to side.

"It's not a name. It's just a letter," he mumbles.

"Do you want a name?"

He shrugs, ever so non-committal. She huffs, "I'll think of something."

"Really?" His face just lights up at the possibility and it makes her stomach feel funny - but in a good way.

"Really."

He bits his lip as he nods, trying to hold back a smile. A giggle escapes from her mouth.

"So...um, you mentioned playing? You know any good games?" She asks.

"Well...um...not really. Do you?"

She blinks and answers in a flat voice, "I literally just woke up five minutes ago."

He laughs nervously, "So that's a no then?"

"That's a big no."

"Right," he glances off to the side, embarrassed. "Well, since neither of u-us know anything, we could...m-make one up?"

She considers him for a moment before nodding, "Sounds fun."

* * *

><p>Several hours later, the scientists in charge of Project HU find Subject X hopping in and out of a series of chalk-drawn boxes on one leg with a strange girl that none of them have ever seen before. When asked what in the world they were doing, X grins and says, "Its a game we invented! We call it 'Hopscotch'!"<p>

Needless to say, the scientists are horrified beyond belief. Partially because X has somehow managed to asexually reproduce in their absence and partially because, right afterwards, he goes on to claim that his name is now 'Magic.'

_"Real love stories never have endings."  
>- Richard Bach<em>

* * *

><p><strong>Hey all!<strong>

**I'd like to thank those who reviewed for the latest chapter: zukofan2005, Aqua girl 007, and InsanityByDefinition.**

**I'd also like to say, since it is Remembrance Day in my country, thank you to all of the brave military men and women around the world for your sacrifice. It does not go unnoticed or unappreciated. You are all heroes and you are all beautiful, powerful people. And to all the veterans and all those who have fallen in the line of duty: we carry your torch with us where ever we go and, like you, we will pass that right and responsibility on to the next generation. We are forever in your debt.**

**And finally, I'd like to wish my good friend, Stephanie, a happy nineteenth birthday! Girl, you rock my world. Thank you for all that you've done for me, all that you've inspired me to become. I wish you joy and happiness and all the good and wonderful things that you deserve out of life. And know that if you ever need anything, I am and will always be here for you.**

**So this is the first meeting between Magic and his future wife, Heavenly Sound. Despite being the first human, she was created not born, as will the next six that follow her. And for all of you wondering why Magic didn't have his signature plural voice, it is because it is only after his thousandth year that he gains that.**

**Magic is acting differently because he is _incredibly young _in this story. He's only nine hundred years old, which by human standards is pretty up there, but in comparison to the twenty thousand that he is in the present timeline, he's a mere toddler here. This is also before the Leviathan, before the war, and before his first initial rebellion. While he doesn't honestly enjoy being around the Ancients (called The People here), he wants to please them like any child would their parents even if he thinks that what they're doing is wrong. I based him somewhat on Supernatural's Castiel in the forth season - Castiel (or 'Cas', for short) is an angel who blindly follows the divine orders he is given, even though he is starting to doubt their 'righteousness'. And Magic, just like Cas, eventually rebels in order to do the right thing for someone they care deeply about - yes, I ship Destiel, though that is a totally different conversation.  
><strong>

**Also, Magic in white scrubs is totally an allusion to Cas in the seventh season when he goes all crazy due to Lucifer and his guilt about the stunt he pulled in season 6. I'm not obsessed with Supernatural. Really.**

**If you have any comments, questions, or concerns, you can drop me a line and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. I'm off now to finish an essay for school as well as the final chapter of Thief King's story. God, killing him is going to be tough.**

**Until next time,**

**AlcatrazOutpatient**


	18. Thief King Bakura, A Character Profile

**The Others: Odd Happenings**

**Disclaimer:** Yu-gi-oh! Duel Monsters is owned by Kazuki Takahashi, Studio Gallop, Nihon Ad Systems, and TV Tokyo. All names were changed to the characters of this fandom in order to protect the real people involved in the following incidents.

**Warning:** This is a fandom essay and includes several references to AlcatrazOutpatient's own theories and opinions.

* * *

><p><strong>Eighteenth Page: Thief King Bakura, A Character Profile<strong>

**Table of Contents**

1 – Introduction  
>2 – Location, Location, Location<br>2.1 – In The Middle Of No Where  
>2.2 – Norsemen in the North<br>3 – First Impressions  
>3.1 – I Am Who You Made Me To Be<br>3.2 – What Do You Believe In?  
>4 – I Am A Warrior<br>4.1 – But I'm Not A Fighter  
>4.2 – And Yet I Can Still Kick Your Ass<br>5 - Conclusion

**1 – Introduction**

From the moment he first spoke in the ninth chapter of _The Others: The First Year_, Thief King Bakura has been a character covered in shadow. His past is relatively unknown to those solely following the main series – all that is revealed is that he was the first of the spirits to exist, that he lived in the Arctic amongst the Inuit people, and that he died at a very young age. He stays mostly off to the side, occasionally answering questions that leave the others grasping for answers. He seems shy and innocent, often dismissed as being weak by the other five spirits that inhabit the mind of Ryou Bakura.

In reality, Thief King is anything but weak.

As revealed in his installment of _The Spirits: Resurrection_, Thief King possesses an utterly brilliant mind and an awesome power to control his surroundings. He is trained by Atem herself in the art of magic and stands along side his friend and brother in all but blood, Tupit. But when his home is cruelly torn from him, he embarks on a path of vengeance to avenge those who fell when he could not save them. Along that road, he discovers both love and hatred. But most importantly, he finds _answers_.

In the following essay, I will be breaking the forth wall and explaining Thief King's background, diving into the culture of the Inuit people and the geography of the northern areas of present-day Nunavut, Canada in the hopes of breathing a last breath of life into this amazing character who met such a tragic end. In the words of Billy Joel, only the good die young. For all his faults and misgivings, there is no doubt that the young Thief King Bakura was nothing but good.

**2 – Location, Location, Location**

Thief King's story takes place in the Canadian arctic, where the Inuit people predominantly existed prior to European colonization. We know that he lives on an island that is close to the northern 'mainland' on which there is a mountain range and a Viking settlement. As to where these places are, they are not revealed in the story as Thief King, even if he had had names for them, would not have called them by those that are associated with them today and therefore would remain unrecognizable. However, using these few clues, we can find out just where Thief King actually lived.

**2.1 – In The Middle Of No Where**

Thief King Bakura was born on what is now referred to as Resolution Island, a small island that resides in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada. It is located just south of Baffin Island in the Hudson Straight and has an area of 1,1015 square kilometers (392 square miles). While this island is currently uninhabited due to a series of chemical spills left over from an American military base that used to exist there, it is considered to be Inuit territory under Canadian law.

During the winter months, the passage between Resolution and Baffin Island would freeze, making it possible to travel in between the both of them. Sometimes, Thief King and his tribe would venture onto the smaller islands located in between the two of them, the Savage Islands, in search of food. During the year after his birth (998 C.E.), the tribe preformed a raid on one of the other Inuit groups that lived on the Savage Islands due to their poor results at hunting that year. It was during that raid that Tupit's grandmother was killed and her son was made the tribal leader (as she had no daughters to take over after her death).

Resolution Island, similar to that of Baffin Island, is inhabited by a whole manner of creature. The main land ground based animals are the Barren-ground Caribou, polar bear, Arctic fox, Arctic hare, lemming (a small rodent-like creature), and Arctic Wolf. The caribou often migrate too and from Baffin Island across the frozen Hudson Straight during the winter.

The larger water game would include walrus, Belugas/white whales, and narwhals. The largest visitor, as well as the creature that almost killed Thief King's brother, Ipiktok, is the bowhead whale – though the one that found him was lost in the cold winter waters.

The waters are filled with ringed/jar seals, bearded seals, and harp seals – a main source of food for the Inuit people as well as the polar bears. They are year round sources of food and clothing, so they are a familiar creature to Thief King to hunt. He would also have seen many species of migrating birds such as Canadian, snow, and Brant geese, phalarope, waders, murres, and plovers. On top of that, he'd have hunted gulls like the glaucous, herring, and ivory gulls.

**2.2 – Norsemen in the North**

Since the 1960s, there has been mounting evidence that the Vikings made it across the Atlantis Ocean and settled, for a time, in the New World. With Helge and Anne Stine Ingstad's discovery of Viking camps in Newfoundland, Canada, the search has been on for other encampments such as that one. The site they discovered has dated back to a period in between 989 and 1020 C.E. – smack dab in the middle of when Thief King was walking around – and there are theories being thrown around the archeological community of a Norse-Native American trade route being established.

About 200 kilometres (124 miles) south west of modern day Iqaluit, Nunavut on Baffin Island lies the tantalizing signs of a possible medieval Norse encampment. It is in this village where Thief King battles against the Horseman and his following of redheaded followers. He dies in this place, a patch of foreign-occupied land on his own home turf. As a child, he wanted nothing more than to know the land beyond his own. He found it and it was the end of him.

**3 – First Impressions**

At first glance, Thief King looks rather dismissive. He's physically smaller then most of the boys his age, standing at a non-so-towering five foot one inch tall. Inside of his bulky parka, he's also very thin. This is due to a combination of malnutrition during the winter months when most of the above mentioned animals would migrate into the warmer southern lands and the fact that he was born three months prematurely in the middle of a snowstorm. Originally deemed unlikely to survive his first year, his parents considered abandoning him in the snowdrifts – a common Inuit practice at the time of his birth. This was done, not out of hatred, but out of mercy, as the idea behind the tradition was that another tribe would pick up the child and raise it as their own. However, that never happened and Thief King continued to live with his birth family.

He wears a traditional Inuit parka made out of seal skin. It is very thick and designed to withstand the harsh temperatures of the northern winter. Underneath is a leather shirt that he wears during the summer months. His legs are wrapped in the same thick material as his parka and he wears boots made out of caribou hide.

Thief King's hair is bone white, the same as the rest of the Bakuras. His falls just past his shoulders. Unlike many of the others in his tribe, he doesn't really do much in the way of braiding it. Thief King has never liked his hair, as it was the reason why his childhood bullies picked on him, so he tries to ignore it the best he can. His red eyes are wide, his skin much paler then his family members, and his face thin and skeletal.

**3.1 – I Am Who You Made Me To Be**

There is no doubt that Thief King Bakura is intelligent – in fact, he's a downright genius. By the time he is twelve, he's figuring out what atoms are and how to manipulate them to do what he wants. A few years later, he is coming up with theories about the heliocentric nature of the solar system. Had he taken a modern day IQ test, he would have scored a solid 200. But instead of having his brilliance celebrated as something wonderful, he was shunned for it. This is due, in part, to the Ward, but also due to the isolation of his tribe and the harsh environment that they live in.

The Inuit are a hunter-gatherer society. They don't have time to think about the whys behind the world. Their biggest concern is where their next meal is coming from and if they will survive the winter months – and if not, if the next generation will be able to. They don't need philosophers. They need hunters and Thief King doesn't initially measure up.

Due to their harsh environment and the relative smallness of Revolution Island, there were very little chances for Thief King's tribe to meet up with other groups of Inuit people. While in other tribes, a meeting under peaceful terms may have occurred, the main reason for his tribe to come into contact with others would be during raids. Raids were common during the winter months and took place because of a lack of food, but it was through one such occasion that Thief King's brother, Ipiktok fathered a child that eventually would become an ancestor of one of Ryou Bakura's family members. The mother did not give consent.

But due to this isolation, Thief King's tribe became very fixed in their views. They didn't have any contrasting opinions that contradicted their own. They had never met up with the native groups to the south that considered same-sex marriage as something to be worshiped, therefore creating Tupit's confusion at wanting to be with a man. It also contributed to the fact that Thief King had never even heard about anything other than heterosexual marriage before.

So when Thief King began to speak up about things being different then what had been said to be truth for thousands of years previous, backing up his claims with evidence that no other person could see and feel, he was deemed as being an idiot despite the fact that he was anything but.

Despite everything, Thief King is incredibly loyal to his tribe. This is because they are literally all that he knows. They are the only people that he's ever really interacted with _ever_. He's attached to them in a way that he can barely comprehend. And when they are ripped so cruelly from him, they take everything that he's ever known with them. Nothing is normal again because Thief King's entire life is simply gone. It kills him and everything that he was before, transforming him into a completely different entity that only wanted revenge.

**3.2 – What Do You Believe In?**

The Inuit are more spiritual then they are religious, but they do have being similar to the gods and goddesses of the many polytheistic religions of the rest of the Ancient world. These beings were animal spirits or ancestors of the Inuit people. Sedna was considered to be a woman who'd forsaken the marriage her father had arranged for her and eventually drowned at sea. She became their ocean 'goddess'. The sun and the moon are quarrelling siblings that chase each other across the sky in order to end a timeless argument. They aren't beings to be worshipped, but are still taken to be real. Thief King grew up with these stories and tried to explain them with his own intelligence, but couldn't. It was one of the first things that he failed to do.

Thief King is an atheist. He doesn't believe in the supernatural. In the third phase of his story, he doesn't even believe in the powers that he would eventually wield. So when confronted by the idea of spirituality, he is completely perplexed. It's not that he is anti-religion – it's more like he simple doesn't understand why people would believe in something that they couldn't prove. Thief King has never understood faith. He needs cold, hard facts and, without evidence, he refuses to believe that something exists.

This dives into Thief King's main character flaw: his own pride. In a way that almost emulates the ideology of his fellow tribe members in twisted reverse, he believes that what he thinks is the right and correct thing. He doesn't like being corrected by people. He doesn't take being wrong very well. If you don't believe what he does, you're wrong or stupid or some combination of the two. Due to his inability to understand his tribe's belief in ancestral and animal spirits, he considers them to be somewhat idiotic in comparison to him, which is ironic considering that they believe him to be the same because he _doesn't_ believe in them. There is a battle of 'what truly is common sense' between Thief King and his fellow people and there appears to be no clear winner.

And then Atem comes along. She's a bit of a paradox for him. She is the one with all of the answers to his questions about what lies beyond the ice that he's known for all of his life. At the same time, Atem is religious. She believes in sun gods and moon goddesses. She believes in paying tribute to these deities with no evidence that they have ever truly changed her life for the better. But then the fact that she'd been cursed comes into play, which is something that couldn't have happened in a godless universe, and it confuses him ever so slightly. Atem is a walking contradiction to Thief King and it attracts him to her like a moth to a flame.

He wants to figure Atem out, but can't seem to get all of the answers he wants _about her_ out of her and it frustrates him to no end. He has no idea where she came from other than somewhere to the south. He has no idea why she is immortal. He has no idea how she knew his name the instant she met him. And he as no idea why she makes him feel the way he does. Thief King's parents, due to their neglect, never talked to him about sexuality and how it is expressed. He doesn't know what attraction is or what the emotions that surround it are. Atem is this mystery that he wants to solve, but he doesn't have the necessary tools to do so. That doesn't stop him from trying, though.

**4 – I'm A Warrior**

On several occasions throughout the series, Thief King has engaged in battle against a series of foes. His first enemy is not even human, but a large whale that had been separated from its group and wandered into the icy waters of the north. He then goes on to battle raiders and eventually his own brother. Thief King uses his powers to battle against much larger opponents can come out as the victor. But just how does he do that?

**4.1 – But I'm Not A Fighter**

Thief King's primary means of combat is his magic. He channels it through his body and into his spear. That weapon of his is almost like an old wizard's staff and he uses it to stir up storms and literally control the world with his whim. He is modeled, fighting-wise, off of some of the great wizard characters like Gandalf, Merlin, and Dumbledore. You would never see Gandalf throwing a punch or Dumbledore kicking someone. Merlin (the one from the legends, not the television show) would not throw himself into a physical fight. They are not people that would do well in a hand-to-hand combat situation./ They rely on their magic to fight.

Thief King does the same. He hardly ever raises a hand to anyone. In his mind, he doesn't _need to_. He's got magic, he can do anything with it. Why resort to physical violence when he can freeze you to death from the inside out? As mentioned before, he's a very prideful individual. He sees himself as just that little bit better than the rest of his 'normal' tribe members because of his gifts. So while they are hitting and kicking and turning their hands into weapons, Thief King will be sending lightning and tornadoes down from the sky to do his bidding.

However, this is not the real reason as to why he doesn't engage in hand-to-hand combat. The real reason is, frankly, the guy sucks at Combat magic.

Ever Other has their weakness. There are hardly any of them that have complete mastery over every single branch out there. Atem finds Illusion magic to be somewhat difficult for her, even after all of these years. Seto Kaiba needs to concentrate more when Summoning then when he does anything else. And Combat magic is Thief King's downfall.

He can do the basics. He can speed up his movements so that he can run faster and lift heavier things, but when it comes to actual usage in combat, Thief King is hardly a threat. His stances are weak, his punches are sloppy, and he usually falls flat on his face when attempting to kick anything. It has to do with his body and the reasons that were discussed above as to why he is so skinny. So he simply doesn't bother with it, avoiding using it unless he is in a very dire situation.

One such situation occurred when he was fighting against the Horseman or, as Thief King knew him, the man who wasn't a man. When brought to his knees, he used his spear, not as a magical staff substitute, but as the weapon that it was intended to be. This was an allusion to another anime that I watch: _Naruto_. At the end of the Chuunin Exam arc in the first series, there is a battle between the main character, Naruto, and his foil, Gaara. Gaara, who is predominantly a long-range fighter, is forced into a position where he has to throw what is quite possibly the first punch of his entire life. He messes up, as he lacks the proper reflexes to do it properly. This is what happens to Thief King when he tries to stab the Horseman. He messes up because he doesn't have enough practice with actually using his spear for actually attacking people with it.

**4.2 – And Yet I Can Still Kick Your Ass**

His lack of ability to use Combat magic properly results in his incredible talent with Morphing magic. Combined with his own genius, Thief King transforms it into a deadly weapon. He starts out small – but even for him, small is pretty darn huge. He tears open an ice sheet to get at his brother. He can change the colours of the Aurora Borealis. And he does this all at the age of _eleven_. Most Others have just developed their powers at that age and there he is, using them.

That control he has only increases over time with Atem's training. He learns the hows and whys behind what he can do. Thief King learns about the world and how it works. And he incorporates that knowledge into his fighting style. He sees how storms work and he is able to recreate that on a grand scale. He has observed how _atoms_ interact with each other so that he can change their colour and function. He understands lift, drag, gravity, and velocity so that he can fly through the air. He's doing all of this long before many of the European scholars on the other side of the world famous for their discoveries of these concepts were even coming up with them.

The reason why he can do this all at such a young age is that, on top of being incredibly smart, Thief King has incredible control over his magic. Where as most Others start practicing spells by guessing at the amount of their power that needs to be used, he is knows just how much and how little he needs. Thief King would never collapse of magical overuse because of this - he knows his limitations like the back of his hand.

**5 – Conclusion**

Ivern Ball once said, "Knowledge is power, but enthusiasm pulls the switch." In the case of Thief King Bakura, his intelligence fed his own power, turning his very mind into a weapon. But all of that knowledge, all of that strength, was useless without a purpose. Due to his physically weak body and inability to use Combat magic to its fullest potential, he transforms the world around him and uses that to fight instead. He turns this power on those that destroyed the only life he'd ever known due to his general isolation from the rest of the world. Thief King's life impacted the world on a global stage, and his life shows us that even one person can truly make a difference if they put their mind to it.

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><p><strong>Hey guys!<strong>

**I'd like to thank InsanityByDefinition, Aqua girl 007, and ilovemancures for their reviews on the last chapter. You all continue to amaze me with your general epicness.**

**So now that Thief King's phase of Resurrection is done, I wanted to give a lot of background information about his character that didn't and couldn't really come up. That's the one thing that bothers me about single person point-of-view stories: you can't really get everything out that you want to. I think I've spoken of this before, though, so I'm not going to do some kind of rant about it.**

**So school's almost done for me. I've got a few more days of classes and then the next three weeks are going to be used for studying and exams. I'm going to do some baking and writing when I take my breaks and hopefully finish reading _Game of Thrones_ (which is an amazing series to both read and watch and I totally recommend it). I want to get the next chapter of The Second Year done before my final exam because I've taken a bit of a break from the main story to focus on finishing up Thief King's life. Now I'm going to get back in the game with good old Ryou Bakura and his adventures.**

**Just like the last essay that I posted, I'd love some feedback if you've got some. And if not, I'd still love to hear from you. It totally makes my day when I get to speak with you guys.**

**Until next time,**

**AlcatrazOutpatient**


	19. A Brief History of Kings

**The Others: Odd Happenings**

**Disclaimer:** Yu-gi-oh! Duel Monsters is owned by Kazuki Takahashi, Studio Gallop, Nihon Ad Systems, and TV Tokyo. All names were changed to the characters of this fandom in order to protect the real people involved in the following incidents.

**Warning:** This is a fandom essay and includes several references to AlcatrazOutpatient's own theories and opinions.

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><p><strong>Nineteenth Page: A Brief History of Kings<strong>

"_Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown."  
><em>_- William Shakespeare_

**Table of Contents**

1 – Introduction  
>2 – Before The Kings<br>2.1 – The Secret of the Nys Mountains  
>2.2 – The Rise of Nyambi<br>3 – The Second Generation  
>3.1 – Freyja's Wrath<br>3.2 – Apollo's Reign  
>4 – The Time of Raa<br>4.1 - The Trouble With Zeus  
>4.2 - Never Again<br>4.3 - Iris And The Birth Of Magic  
>4.4 - Tonatiuh's Promise<br>5 - A Snake  
>5.1 - Conclusion<br>6 - Etymology

**Introduction**

First mentioned in the ninth chapter of The Others: The First Year, the Ancients were a proud race of beings that existed in the time before human civilization. They are the 'parents' of Magic (or, as he is called here, Subject X) and the creational grandparents of the human race, though both of these were due to a series of mishaps and experiments gone wrong on their parts. They also gave birth to the ever terrifying Leviathan and her Orichalcos stones. Sometime after, they waged war against Magic and the human population; a war that they would eventually lose do to the Leviathan turning traitor out of fear and sending their home continent of Mu into the depths of the ocean and killing what remained of its inhabitants.

But it is not the point of this essay to prattle on about what happened during the First War of the Orichalcos. All of that will be revealed in due time. What is important now is the context: the 'whys' behind all that happened in a time long forgotten by humanity. To understand why certain decisions were made, we must look at who held the power and just what they were doing with it.

In this essay, I will be examining main political events of the years leading up to the creation of the Leviathan by studying the Kings of Mu. Their history is just as important as humanity's, as it is the only thing that the surviving Ancients have left of their culture and heritage.

**2 – Before the Kings**

Prior to universal rule, the continent of Mu (located in the middle of the modern day Pacific Ocean) was divided into six distinct regions: Atlantis, Nibiru, Shangri-La, Shambhala, El Dorado, and Pathi. Each region was ruled by a noble house and had its own distinct culture. For example, those of Atlantian heritage were 'seaborne' and lived most of their lives on ships as fishers or coastal raiders. On the other hand, the Pathians dressed themselves in fine silks who's style changed with the coming seasons as their lands were rich with gold and other finery. The main way to tell them apart, though, was by their hair.

Unlike the HUmans that would later inhabit the world, the Ancients had hair colours that went beyond the range of black, brown, blonde, and the ever-dwindling ginger. Shambas had fire truck red heads. Doradians had varying shades of orange. Nibiruites boasted lemon and yellow lily. The mountain Shangri people were of leaf and grass, Atlantians were ocean blue, and those of Pathi were of a rich purple colour. These marked them for who they were and did not waver a single bit – with one single exception.

The Pojarians. And it is from them that the first King of Mu was descended from.

**2.1 – The Secret of the Nys Mountains**

The first thing to remember about the Ancients is that they, literally, have no souls. This is due to them being a product of evolution and not brought to life by Magic. And it is because of this that the Ancients have no concept religion.

They have no gods or goddesses. They have no legends. No myths. No superstitions or wives tales. They only things that are believed are those that can be proven with cold hard scientific fact. Which begs the question: why have a monarchy?

Monarchies are usually defined by having a leader who is viewed as being superior to all other people, solely by right of birth. Amongst the later cultures of humans, this was decided, generally, by having a particular family viewed as having the divine right to rule (though, in truth, it comes from their family's history of intermarrying with Ancients). But where would a culture that did not believe in the supernatural come up with the idea of one person being better fit to rule?

The answer is simple: they actually _are_.

The first Ancient, a man named Pojar whom people know very little about, was considered to be the most genetically superior being to ever walk the earth. So much so that his descendants are blessed with heightened immune systems, enhanced healing abilities, superior physical strength, and IQ levels that were off the charts – just to name a few. The closer you got to Pojar's main line, the more likely you were to have such gifts. Most of the noble houses of Mu claimed to be related to him in some distant fashion – either through a second or third child or, in the case of Nibiru's ruling house, his younger sister. Many believed that the main line had died out and no longer existed. They were wrong.

Deep in the Nys Mountain range lived a secret village of people of white and silver hair. These people were the most direct of descendants, who had hidden themselves away for many a generation. And it was from there that Nyambi, the soon-to-be King of Mu, was born.

**2.2 – The Rise of Nyambi**

Nyambi was born to his mother, Ixtab, and his father, Yum Caax, in the secret village of the Pojarians named Schwack. Being the most direct of descendants (though his mother), Nyambi hair was a stark white. He was raised as a king should, but cautioned not to venture into the outside world.

The Pojarians, several millennia previous, had retreated to their mountain hide away to keep their bloodlines pure of any who would dilute them. However, Nyambi broke this custom on his nine hundred and thirty seventh birthday and escaped into the wilderness on the back of a grizzly bear and rode into the nearby town of Camelot.

It was there was he met Frigg, a young woman only two decades younger then him. They fell in love almost instantly and wanted to marry. But her father, Ullr, the current king of El Dorado, refused to let his first-born and heir marry a strange boy who had walked out of the forest. But to honour his daughter's wishes, he commanded that Nyambi be tested.

Ancient marriage is not like human marriage. It is a rare thing to marry for love and they are almost always arranged. While sometime couples fall in love after their union, it is a common and accepted practice for Ancients to have several lovers on the side. And while the sex of their lovers does not matter, it does when it comes to marriage. Unions between Ancients occurred for the sole reason of having children.

In order to make sure that the unions would produce the most superior children, it was practice for possible partners to have their DNA examined in order to determine who would be most genetically compatible. When it came to the highborn nobility, they were tested against the entire kingdom. More often then not, a noble partner was picked, but occasionally a lesser born or even a peasant was shown as being genetically compatible and a marriage contract would be drawn up. This was the only was those of the lower class would be able to advance in the normally rather strict hierarchy imposed on the Ancient society and was akin to something like winning the lottery.

But when the test results came back, Ullr was so shocked that it sent him into cardiac arrest. Not only was Nyambi compatible with his daughter, he was probably the most superior being to ever be seen in a dozen generations – since the time of Pojar himself.

However, news of Nyambi and his upcoming marriage spread across the continent like wildfire. The other kingdoms rallied their troops and their daughters, hoping to secure a match with him. El Dorado was invaded first by Pathi and then by Shangri-La before the Atlantians snuck in through a nearby river and attempted to kidnap Nyambi. While he managed to fight them off, his darling Frigg was captured and taken to the Atlantian capital of Saguenay.

Enraged, Nyambi rallied the Pojarians, revealing Schwack in the process and laid waste to all those who had attacked and assisted the Atlantians in their kidnapping of Frigg. The Pojarians sacked Saguenay and took back his fiancé. But the damage was done. They would never be able to go back into obscurity ever again.

So they decided not to. After taking Frigg as his bride, Nyambi made the six kingdoms submit to his rule, lest they end up like the Atlantians. He took Camelot as his capital city and created a new region: Cockaigne. Doradian territory was cut in half, but they were given a large sum of money (reparations from Atlantis) as a substitute. Schwack became the scientific mecca of Mu and the golden age of the Ancients began under a single king.

**3 – The Second Generation**

Nyambi and Frigg went on to have two children together. Their first born was a boy and Apollo, who was followed in the coming century by his sister Freyja. According to the Ancient rules of succession, the first child inherits, regardless of sex. And so the great division in the family occurred. Those who could claim Apollo as their ancestor became known as the upper nobility, while those born to Freyja's line became the lower nobility.

**3.1 – Freyja's Wrath**

Apollo, like Nyambi, was raised to become a king. He inherited his father's looks and abilities, right down to the white hair of his esteemed ancestor. Nyambi trained him in the art of ruling, sparing no expense in making sure that his son would be a fit heir. By the age of five hundred, Apollo was an incredible marksman, a master strategist, and a well-respected politician. All loved him, except his sister.

Freyja could barely remember a time when her father would look at her, let alone talk to her. She was the spare, the child born just in case something ever happened to Apollo. Shunted to the side by the only person she ever wanted to make proud, Freyja began to crave power and, when she was old enough, plotted to take it.

While it has never been truly confirmed by the history books, it is suspected that Freyja hired a series of assassins to kill Apollo in order to take the throne for herself. Her brother and his martial skill, much to her annoyance, thwarted all the attempts. He even went as far as to spare his would-be killers' lives, stating that the courts would decide their fates. Only one of the assassins was spared from life in prison – the forth and final, a man named Pluto, because he tested positive for being the most genetically compatible match for Freyja. During their marriage ceremony, it was said that you could feel the seething hatred rolling off of her shoulders.

Freyja and Pluto had three daughters: Sinann, Sequana, and Boann. Unlike Apollo and much like their mother, the three girls did not have the white hair of Pojar's direct descendants. Like Freyja, Sinann and Sequana had silver hair. Boann, on the other hand, possessed her father's Atlantian blue. Needless to say, she was furious.

It was only after Nyambi's death and Apollo's eventual crowning that Freyja's anger became madness. On the day of his wedding to Milda, the daughter of the Shamba lord's brother, she pulled a machine pistol on him and fired off three rounds before she was subdued by her own daughters and husband. Rather than be taken alive, she bit into the cyanide capsule hidden in her molar and died within minutes. Thankfully, Apollo's injuries were easily treatable and he even went as far as to refuse to leave the building until the ceremony was over. But the divide between the two sides of the family would remain tense for millennia afterwards.

**3.2 – Apollo's Reign**

Contrary to expectations, Apollo's reign was not the dream that most people believed that it would be. It was the end of the golden age as the new King began to show his true face. Apollo sent Camelot into a spiraling debt with his excessive spending. There were riots in the streets, marches on the royal castle as the lower class demanded food. The royal knights managed to make sure that protesters did not pass through the main gate, but it was a close thing. The golden age was dead. The first great depression set in.

It only ended because Milda went behind Apollo's back and created the council, a group of people whose sole purpose would be to advise the King and, in the worse case scenario, veto his decisions. He was furious when the legislation passed secrecy, but being of Shambhala and a noble at that, the queen fought off any attempt Apollo made to take back the complete control over the continent. There was a great animosity between the two of them that continued to the end of their days. But they'd already done their duty. Apollo and Milda had already had their children: their eldest son, Raa; their second son, Azraell; and the twins, Izanagi and Izamani.

The council managed to get the budget under control again, though it took a lot of work to pull it off. Many of the solid statues that Apollo had made of himself and his father had to be melted down and sold to produce the money needed to take the entire continent out of debt and resold back to Pathi. Apollo's wardrobe was cut in have and he moaned for days about how he would only be able to change outfits once a day now. He stated that, as a descendant of Pojar, he deserved only the very best. Obviously, the starving people disagreed.

The council and the queen worked tirelessly in order to set things right again, earning her the title of 'Milda the Gold Bringer'. When she died, the people of Mu campaigned to have her buried next to Nyambi and Frigg on the Island of Avalon (the royal burial ground), since she'd done a better job as a monarch then Apollo. Her husband, on the other hand, was remembered as the least liked King and was considered by many to be a fraud. On the rare occasion that someone manages to sneak onto Avalon, his grave is usually ends up being vandalized.

**4 – The Time of Raa**

After Apollo came Raa, the king that, under his rule, Magic and humanity would be born. Raa is described by Ancient culture as being the most powerful and well respected kings, the eldest Ancient to ever exist, and the closest to matching Pojar on a pure genetic level then any had ever been before. He was known as Raa the Great and Raa the Powerful, but he always said that he'd merely been born lucky – that he'd had the right set of chromosomes at the right time so that he was able to do what he did.

On the other hand, there was Raa's younger brother, Azrael. He was a cunning man with a past filled with shadows. His official title was the king's vicar, though many believe he was something else entirely. Some say that he was his elder brother's spymaster, others say that he was Raa's secret executioner. These rumours were birthed from the strange number of disappearances and odd deaths that occurred during the King's reign amongst the nobility.

And finally: the twins, Izanami and Izanagi. They were one of the many people to go missing under mysterious circumstances under King Raa. Prior to their disappearance, the two were considered very close and were often seen in each other's company. However, Izamani fell sick and was locked away for the better part of a decade. Her brother visited her quite often and kept the court up to date on the wellness of his beloved sister. Shortly after returning to the public eye, both twins disappeared one night and were never seen again. King Raa and Azrael were said to be devastated, but one can never be quite sure.

**4.1 - The Trouble With Zeus**

Ancient pregnancy is slightly different from the process that human beings and other species go through. Instead of having a fixed period in which the fetus develops his/her mother's womb, Ancient women have been known to carry their children from as little a time as five months to as large a period as ten years. It has been proven that, ninety six percent of the time, the longer a child stays in the womb, the longer it's lifespan is. Raa's first child, Zeus, was in that four percent.

Despite Cliodha's pregnancy lasting for a good seven and a half years, Zeus only lived to see four thousand - well below the Ancient average lifespan of fifty thousand. The continent was completely shocked. Never before had a King outlived his own heir, even in the time prior to the Pojarian conquest. And that wasn't even the worst part. With Zeus's death, that meant that succession would pass to Raa's second child: Loki.

**4.2 - Never Again**

If there ever was a poster child for Apollo come again, it was Loki. He was irresponsible, reckless, and ill tempered. Despite having several hundred gold crowns worth of personal debt (equal to roughly fifty thousand American dollars) in the form of gambling I.O.U.s and banks loans, he kept spending money on fancy clothing and rich foods. There was a great fear that if he were to take the throne, there would be another depression - one that would put Apollo's to shame. And this time there would be no Milda the Gold Bringer to take control of the situation again.

So someone took action. There is much debate as to who it was exactly. Some say it was Azrael. Others say it was a distant cousin that did the deed. There were also whispers of a simple peasant sneaking past all the guards and slipping into the royal palace. But whatever did happen, the result was the same. Loki was found one morning with his throat slashed and a message was written on the wall behind him in his blood. It read 'Never Again'.

**4.3 - Iris And The Birth Of Magic**

Iris was Raa's third child and the first woman to ever become the crown heir. She was far more promising then her brother Loki had ever been, but the main controversy surrounding her ascension surrounded her genetics, made all the more obvious by her hair colour. Unlike her father and his father's before him, Iris had the silver hair of those not possessing all of Pojar's superior DNA. Many feared that she would not be able to continue on the line due to her inherent weakness.

However, what Iris lacked in genetics, she made up in determination. Unlike Zeus, who was trained since birth to replace his father, and Loki, who was supposed to be a knight but ended up being an embarrassment, she was a scientist. Iris lived for most of her adult life in her ancestral home of Schwack, which was now the largest conglomeration of laboratories ever known to the world. She proclaimed that, when she was crowned, most of her budget would go towards scientific exploration. In particular, it would be funneled into Project HU, dedication to the exploration of negative energy that was being headed up by Dr. Bakura. For a while, things seemed bright. And then the incident happened. A sandwich crumb from the lunch of a young lab tech floated into the array and something was created in the darkness.

A life. Subject X was unlike anything that the Ancients had seen before. At first, X was a new thing to learn about, a new source of knowledge. It was a thing of wonder, of hope. And then the very thing that the Ancients had created turned on them and created a mutated batch of clones, murdered several high ranking individuals in Raa's court (including his brother, Azrael), declared it 'HUmen' to be their own people and not under Ancient rule, and then started to breed like rats. Unable to deal with the shame that plagued her for her choice in supporting Project HU, Iris withered and eventually committed suicide.

**4.4 - Tonatiuh's Promise**

Tonatiuh was the forth child of Raa and well into his middle ages by the time he rose to succession. The people of Mu, once divided in their support or dislike of the Pojarians, had united in their mutual hatred of the HUmans. They we regarded as parasites - unworthy beings that stole into their cities, took their jobs and money from more the more worthy, assaulted the young and the defenseless, all while not being true citizens because they were not People. HUmans started to be banned from shopping certain stores, using specific social services such as public transport, and had a curfew emplaced on them with harsh penalties for disobeying.

However, there was still a fear that even Tonatiuh would fall die before Raa and the dynasty would end. Despite there still being one final child, Inanna had fought and refused every marriage proposed to her as she preferred the company of her female lovers instead. If it came down to her, the was no doubt that the line would end and a fight for the throne would ensue.

But there was no reason to fear. Passing at an almost obscene age for an Ancient, Raa died silently in his sleep at exactly three hundred thousand years old. Tonatiuh was proclaimed the King and promised to rid Mu of the human infestation. This was the beginning of the war that would destroy everything his ancestors ever stood for.

**5 - A Snake**

Tonatiuh was spurred into action by the memory of his darling sister, Iris, and his conviction that X (or, as it was becoming more commonly known as, The Abomination) had murdered her with it's mind control. Iris had been one of the first Ancients to receive X's dark energy and the powers that came with it, so there was no doubt that, somehow, that thing had manipulated her into taking her life. And he wanted revenge.

Ignoring his wife, Hathor, and only son, Ironheart, he dove into the secret records of Schwack and discovered his father's legacy. During his final years, Raa had instructed the scientists living there to find a way to recreate the circumstances in which X had been created. Tonatiuh reactivated Project HU, saying "If a bread crumb could create something like The Abomination, imagine what something more intelligent could do. Throw in a snake."

**5 - Conclusion**

The years leading up Tonatiuh's reign was what shaped his years on the throne. He had so much to live up to and so much to lose if he failed. He was constantly surrounded by his father's great shadow, the dread of what could happen to him if he started down the path of Apollo the Unworthy, and the knowledge that because he was the forth child, he possessed less of the inherent perfection of Nyambi the Conquerer then any of those who came before him. Based on this, he made the decision to create the Leviathan and, by proxy, the Orichalcos - the very things that, under the rule of his son, Puppet King Ironheart, would destroy Mu once and for all. Because of this, he would forever be remembered as the Blood King.

**6 - Etymology**

Many of the locations and people mentioned in the above essay are based on real-life mythological places and deities/beings. If they are not mentioned below, then they are most likely from the _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ franchise itself.

**Mu:** the name of a hypothetical continent that allegedly existed in one of Earth's oceans, but disappeared at the dawn of human history

**Atlantis:** a legendary island first mentioned in Plato's Timaeus and Critias, written about 360 C.E.

**Nibiru:** a pseudoscientific planetary object described by Zecharia Sitchin

**Shangri-La:** a fictional place in the western end of the Kunlun Mountains first described in the 1933 novel Lost Horizon by British author Hames Hilton

**Shambhala:** a mythical kingdon hidden somewhere in Inner Asia, according to Tibetan and Indian Buddhist tradition

**El Dorado:** a legendary "Lost City of Gold" that fascinated Spanish Conquistadors

**Pathi:** Short for Thuvaraiyam Pathi, it is a sunken land in Ayyavazhi mythology that is about 152 miles either south or south-east to Kanyakumari

**Nyambi:** Nigerian god of the restoration of life

**Ixtab:** also called the Rope Woman, the Yucatec Mayan goddess of suicide

**Yum Caax:** a Yucatek name for the god of the wild vegetation and guardian of its animals

**Frigg: **a major goddess of Norse paganism, the wife of Odin and the queen of Asgard

**Ullr:** a major yet widely unknown god of early Germanic paganism

Saguenay: short for the Kingdom of Saguenay, a northern kingdom of blond men rich with gold and furs, according to Iroquoian legends

**Apollo:** Greek god of music, poetry, plague, oracles, the sun, medicine, light and knowledge

**Freyja:** Norse goddess of love, beauty, fertility, gold, war, and death

**Pluto:** Roman ruler of the underworld

**Sinann:** Celtic goddess associated with the River Shannon

**Sequana:** Celtic goddess associated with the River Seine

**Boann:** Celtic goddess associated with the River Boyne

**Milda:** Lithuanian goddess of love and freedom

**Raa:** also called Ra, the ancient Egyptian solar deity

**Azrael:** the Archangel of Death

**Izanagi:** a deity born of the seven divine generations in Japanese mythology and Shinto

**Izanami:** Japanese goddess of both creation and death

**Zeus:** Greek King of the Gods, god of the sky, thunder and lightning, law, order, and justice

**Chioldha:** Irish goddess of love and beauty, sometimes known as the Queen of the Banshees

**Loki:** Norse god of magic and fire

**Iris:** Greek goddess of the rainbow and messenger of the gods

**Tonatiuh:** Aztec god of the sun

**Hathor:** Ancient Egyptian goddess of love, beauty, motherhood, foreign lands, mining, and music

_"Give them nothing... Take from them everything."  
><em>_- Leonidas I_

* * *

><p><strong>Hello all.<strong>

**I'd like to thank those who reviewed for the last chapter: Aqua girl 007, zukofan2005, and InsanityByDefinition.**

**Yeah, I know I promised to put out the new Resurrection chapter, but this has been in the works for a _long_ while and I just finished it up so I thought I'd post it.**

**I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but The Others Series is freaking huge. The main storyline with Ryou Bakura is the just the ending of a, frankly, stupidly huge timeline that I have in my head that starts, literally, at the dawn of civilization - Ancient civilization, mind you, not human civilization. I've got eight eras that I can write in. The above essay takes place at the end of the second one (Mu: Pre-Pojarian Conquest), the entirety of the third (Mu: Post-Pojarian Conquest), and the very being of the forth (Forgotten World).**

**I focused primarily on the bits and pieces needed to explain why Tonatiuh ordered the creation of the Leviathan and ignored the other stuff that was going on during those eras. So that's why there are probably some loose ends to plot lines in there, like why Raa and Azrael were having people disappeared or what happened to Izanagi and Izanami. I didn't even go into the creation of the colonies during Raa's reign in the New World, locations to which the Ancients will flee to at the end of Resurrection after Mu is destroyed. Those just weren't important, so I didn't include them.**

**Maybe I will one day. God knows that I'll find a way.**

**We'll learn more about the Ancients when I eventually get around to writing Forgotten World. I'll probably have to get down and type out my notes on their society from my scribble book to give you guys some background as to how they work before I do that. They're pretty similar to us in some ways (in fact, if you took a picture of downtown New York City and downtown Camelot sans the people, you might not be able to tell the difference), but in a lot of ways they differ. I don't want you guys or, heck, myself, to get lost.**

**Before I leave you all, I've drawn a map of Mu as well as worked out the royal family tree. Are any of you guys interested in taking a look at them, because I'll post them on my DeviantArt if you are?**

**Until next time,**

**AlcatrazOutpatient**


	20. Moments In Time

**The Others: Odd Happenings**

**Disclaimer:** Yu-gi-oh! Duel Monsters is owned by Kazuki Takahashi, Studio Gallop, Nihon Ad Systems, TV Tokyo and 4Kids Entertainment. All names were changed to the characters of this fandom in order to protect the real people involved in the following incidents.

**Warning:** Contains mentions of drug use, attempted suicide, and overdosing.

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><p><strong>Twentieth Page: Moments in Time<strong>

_"And on her lover's arm she leant. And round her waist he felt it fold. And far across the hills they went. In that new world which is the old."  
>- Alfred Tennyson<em>

Amane runs a brush through her damp hair, smiling slightly at the morning light that filtered in through the small frosted mirror of her apartment bathroom. The pitter of life is returning to the building: her neighbours have turned on the news no doubt attempting to catch the forecast for the day, the sound of footsteps of the people down the hall on their way to work, and, most importantly, the hum of her computers starting up.

The shower shut off behind her and she saw the reflection of a pale hand reaching out from behind the curtain to grab at a towel. Amane sighed contently, "I know you don't actually need to use that, so why do you?"

The curtains slid back, revealing Magic with his hair dripping and the towel hanging around his naked waist.

"**Are we not allowed to enjoy the little things in life?"**He asked jokingly.

"With the time it takes for you to just stand under the water and relax, you're lucky that all my utilities are included in my rent," she laughed. He hummed in response, resting his chin in the join of her neck and shoulder. Magic's arms wrapped around her waist and held her close, lazily pressing his lips to her skin.

Amane leaned back into him, enjoying these few moments of serenity together, and knowing full well that the Resistance would soon be calling.

Sometimes, she wondered what her life would have been like if she'd never volunteered herself for the war effect. If Ryou had never told her about his abilities. If she'd never met Magic and fallen in love all over again. She thinks that world would make a lot more sense than this one. That, logically, she'd have a normal boyfriend, have girl's nights with her friends, and probably be working her way through a four-year college program – most likely some form of humanities degree.

Amane thinks of that life and stares into the changing eyes of her lover. She realizes that that life would be the last thing she'd ever want to have.

Amane is happy standing in the arms of God, with her mind locked away from the prying eyes of the rest of the world, and the ability to change everything at the tips of her fingers. So when her phone buzzes with notifications and orders, she smiles and pulls away from her lover and watches him as he disappears back into his castle.

He leaves the towel behind, hanging up on the rack to dry. She pulls on a pair of track pants, sits back in her comfortable desk chair and cracks her fingers. gh05twr1tt3r has work to do.

* * *

><p><em>"To eat is human, to digest divine."<br>- Charles T. Copeland_

Mokuba Kaiba learns at an early age that he is the chef of his little messed up family. And he truly means 'chef' because, in his rather (not so) humble opinion, he could probably work in five star restaurants if he had the inclination to do so.

His brother is hopeless in the kitchen. He has no patients, no ability to wait for water to come to a boil for pasta ("It's been twenty seconds! Why hasn't it started yet?"). Seto mistakes sugar for salt, pulls uncooked pork from the pan, and claims that carrots are done even through they're still hard as rocks. Mokuba has since introduced him to microwavable dinners and tells him to just follow the bloody instructions.

Atem, on the other hand, _can_ cook – only her version of cooking involves hunting, skinning, and gutting an animal before roasting it on a spit over a campfire. And since those are difficult things to do in the middle of a city, she's off the list for main provider of food.

So Mokuba cooks. He enjoys it as much as he can enjoy anything, which is to say that he doesn't find it completely dull. Even though he's the only one in his household that drinks, he can pair a wine to a main course like a master sommelier. His risotto is to die for, if Kisara is anyone to go by. And he has received three separate proposals for marriage on three separate occasions in the hopes that his cheesecake recipe will be in the will.

Don't even get him started on his lasagna. Mokuba's straight-as-a-ruler roommate at Harvard used to trade _really kinky sex_ for slices of that thing. It's just that good.

Set is still freaked the fuck out by this fact.

* * *

><p><em>"Luck always seems to be against the man who depends on it."<br>__- Unknown_

Maxillion Pegasus is the only person alive to have ever seen Atem wear shoes. It is the night that he meets her and then proceeds to lose several million dollars to her in a game of high-sakes poker.

They weren't even regular, run of the mill shoes either. They were six-inch heels that matched the tiny little black dress that she was wearing as if Donatella Versace had picked them out herself. With her maroon eyes enhanced by professionally applied make up, her hair curled elegantly, and those god damn heels, Atem looked to be half-noble born lady, half high class courtesan.

Needless to say, he is _gone_ on her faster than you could say 'hook, line, and sinker.'

Pegasus knows that she's an Other from the moment he sees her, but doesn't recognize her as being The Immortal at all. He's later say that it wasn't his fault because Atem had never looked like _that_ before in any of his dreams. Besides, when he'd gone to Atlantis, it had been all the rage amongst the girls to dye their hair to look like her's. It wasn't his fault that he hadn't kept up with modern magical fashion trends.

They flirt for a little while. She buys him a drink at the bar. He insists that she call him Max. She laughs and he follows the motion of her tongue as she licks her lips seductively. Pegasus invites her up to his rooms for a better 'tour' of his casino and she smiles at him over the rim of her mocktail.

"Let's play a game first. Your pick," she nods towards the tables.

Atem's hips sway hypnotically as they walk towards his favourite poker table. The dealer recognizes him and asks if his lady friend has enough money to buy into the pot. Atem produces a single chip worth double the entrance free, blows on it for luck, and places it in the man's palm. When she sits down, she makes the chair look like a throne.

The resulting game is probably the most intense he has ever played. Through their combined skill, Atem and Pegasus systematically knock all of their other challengers out. The crime lords and the businessmen sulk as they are parted from their money and the pot begins to grow.

When it finally comes down to just the two of them, Pegasus is confident in his victory. Lady Luck has blessed him with a straight flush, all diamonds and pretty numbers all in a row. In her mind, he can see that she has nothing more than a two pair and is trying to bluff him into submission. He smiles and goes all in.

She does as well and when the dealer announces that they must show their hands, Pegasus presents his cards and reaches for the pot.

Then he gets a rush of memories that aren't his, of Atem staking his casino out and pickpocketing chips from unsuspecting customers for three and a half weeks. He sees the seventeen year old friend-who-was-a-girl-but-not-a-girlfriend-_fuck-off-Mokuba_ of her son giggling and applying her make up. He sees The Immortal in all her glory, smirking before him as she reveals her royal flush and robs him of twenty million dollars.

Maximillion Pegasus is so shocked at the events that he stays frozen for half and hour before he begins to show signs of life.

Several years later, when Seto bloody Kaiba ropes him into his little Resistance, he sees Atem standing off to the side in a ratty t-shirt and cargos, her _bare feet_ poking out from the bottoms. She has the utter gull to call him Max and he hates it.

* * *

><p><em>"Your friendship is your needs answered."<br>- Danish Proverb_

The first time Tristan and Joey kiss, the former is as drunk as a skunk. Joey, however, is completely sober as he drew the short straw amongst his team members and had to play designated driver.

He doesn't even know Tristan at this point. Joey just knows that the guy is friends with the chick who's house party this is and that he'd spent most of the night chatting with her and her boyfriend. He certainly doesn't spend most of the night staring at the guy. Joey couldn't have. It wasn't like he was gay or anything. He was just looking at the girl. She had big tits after all.

Nope, definitely not staring.

He watches as the chick and her boyfriend disappear upstairs about an hour later and, after a few minutes, Tristan follows behind. Joey shrugs and goes back to where the football team is laughing over some joke that one of the linebackers said. He joins in and wishes he had a beer.

Later that night, after the party has started to wind down, Joey attempts to find the washroom only to be halted by a pair of lips on his own. Male lips. Very male lips. And to his utter horror, he finds himself kissing back.

Tristan pulls back, drunkenly squints at him before saying, "You're not Jazmine…"

He then promptly passes out and Joey is left with the duty of dragging the guy's sorry ass to a couch. Somehow that couch turns into the passenger seat of his car and then the couch in his own living room. The next morning is filled with awkward introductions and even more awkward explanations of just how Tristan ended up there. Thankfully, the guy doesn't bring up the kiss.

A year and a half later finds Joey and Tristan laughing like idiots in the dark school grounds after having broken in after hours on a dare. Joey's got a few beers in him and is a little buzzed. Tristan's practically sober. But then the guy stands under a lamp in the parking lot and the light hits his face just right. Joey blames the alcohol and kisses his best friend full on the mouth.

The next thing he knows, he's tearing through the lot, breaking back into the school and hiding in the boy's change room by the gym. His hands shake as he holds the bottle of anxiety meds that he keeps on him at all times. In his fear, he accidentally swallows triple the prescribed dose.

Tristan finds him fifteen minutes later attempting to induce vomiting in the stalls. The guy throws Joey's arm around his shoulders and walks him out because he's still high as a kite and can't think straight. Tristan takes him home and whispers, "It's okay."

"No, it's not," Joey hisses back, rocking back and forth and tugging at his hair. "It's not – it's not okay! I'm not a fag, damn it! I'm not."

"It's okay," Tristan says again and Joey crumbles, tears flowing down his face. He finds himself wrapped up in a tight hug and his best friend holding him through the worst of his trip, muttering, "It's okay" over and over again.

Joey appreciates the effect but knows that it never will be.

* * *

><p><em>"If I die, I forgive you. If I live, we shall see."<br>- __Spanish Proverb_

Deep inside the jungles of the Yucatan peninsula, there is a grave. Time has worn the inscription off, making the corpse buried beneath it one of the many anonymous tombs that tittle the globe and remain forever a mystery.

Beneath the ground is the body of a woman. She's well preserved for someone who's been dead for over a thousand years. Modern forensics would put her age of death to be in her early to mid thirties, if anyone cared to dig her up. This is unlikely, though, because of the blank state of her burial grounds.

However, contrary to her dead nature, this woman is still there – not in mind or body, but in spirit.

For the past one thousand one hundred and twenty nine years, this woman's spirit has sat on a large rock doing very little other than occasionally tilting her head upwards and staring at the sky. She's quite beautiful in her solitude, her long black hair braided elegantly in death. Her dress is the finest money can buy and draped with sparkling stones.

But she sits, looking up at the sky, at the birds that pass overhead, and sees nothing. Says nothing. Feels nothing. She sits and she waits for forgiveness.

Queen Yaretzi of Tikal, mother of The Immortal Atem, sits and waits for her daughter to come back to her, even though she knows she doesn't deserve it.

* * *

><p><em>"Gratitude is the heart's memory."<br>_- _French Proverb_

Back at home, there's a girl that Rex and Weevil like. She's in the eleventh grade, but they have a few classes with her regardless. She's taking a couple of twelfth grade courses to free up her schedule next year.

The girl transfers in about a month after the both of them start going to Atlantis. Weevil notices her first (he always notices the girls first), but what Rex finds surprising is that his first comment about her has nothing to do with her really short skirt, but with her skull-shaped hair band.

"It just looks cool," he says. "That Bakura guy would probably get a kick out of it. Yeah know, with his dead-ness thing."

Rex shrugs, but finds himself staring at her down right neon orange hair for the rest of class. He wonders what he real hair colour is, because there's no way that it's natural.

As the months pass on, the two of them take to occasionally talking about what it would be like to actually talk to this girl. Rex isn't ashamed to admit that he sometimes thinks about her when he's alone. He wonders what it would be like to kiss her. He wonders what it would be like to make her laugh. Weevil says that he does too, confessing that sometimes he refers to her as _their_ girl.

It's almost April when something happens. One of the girls from their science class dumps a slushy over their girl's head. She shrieks as the cold flavoured ice soaks through her shirt.

For the next week, that _bitch_ becomes the sole victim of Rex and Weevil's most malicious prank war to date. It's fucking epic and the world will probably never see so much awesome concentrated on a single goal for at least three whole generations.

But the best part comes just before the two of them have to return to Atlantis again. Their girl looks at them one day in math class. Rex and Weevil stare back. Slowly, the two of them begin to smile.

Their girl smiles back.

* * *

><p><em>"Making social comment is an artificial place for an artist to start from. If an artist is touched by some social condition, what the artist creates will reflect that, but you can't force it."<br>- Bella Lewitzky_

As luck would have it, all of Bakura's friends at Atlantis have some form of artistic talent. Out of all of them, Mako's is the most obvious: he writes. There isn't a day that goes by where one of them doesn't see him scribbling away in his notebook. He's got several of them already filled, just laying there on his desk, that are covered in inked in words. When he finishes one he gives it to Mai, who then proceeds to become a grammar nazi and edits the crap out of it.

Bakura's an artist, though his creations are locked away in a sketchbook that no one is allowed to see. Mai can sing and often does so in it shower. Mana is a surprisingly talented ballet dancer, but has heard too many times by former instructors that she'll never go far because of her body type.

While Strings can't sing or even speak, he can _compose_ songs that express his thoughts better than any work the English language could even contain. Rex and Weevil are frighteningly good sculptures and often use metal as a medium. Leon can act and, due to his classical education, as memorized a large portion of Shakespeare's works.

As for Marik, he will never admit it, but he inherited his father's gift for painting. The only works he's ever produced were from the time before Khalid took a knife to his back – he hasn't touched a colour pallet since.

The first thing he does upon being released from the hospital is burn everything that he ever produced. Marik thought that it would be therapeutic, but all it did was make him want to shove a brush into his father's eye socket.

* * *

><p><em>"Addiction, obesity, starvation (anorexia nervosa) are political problems, not psychiatric: each condenses and expresses a contest between the individual and some other person or persons in his environment over the control of the individual's body."<br>_- _Thomas Szasz_

Despite being considered the hottest girl at Domino High School, Tea is rather self-conscious about her body. What may surprise you is that it is _not_ for the reason you might expect.

She's relatively small for a girl, only one or two inches above five feet in height. She's dainty in stature, with tiny feet and hands. She's also flat as a board, or at least she is in comparison to Amane or, hell, _Serenity_, who's sports bras have strapped her massive tits down for most of the natural life.

On top of everything, she's got a stupidly high metabolism. So much so that she once an entire chocolate cake and didn't gain a single pound. Tea's been one hundred and five pounds since eighth grade and she hates it.

Unlike most girls, she's love to gain weight. In fact, she'd take being morbidly obese if her fucking genetics would allow it. Tea wants to be taller than Duke with bones like _trees_. And she wants to have boobs, huge counterbalances that will give her back problems by the time she's twenty-five.

Why? Because she has a dancer's body. One that can easily be picked up and thrown and caught. One who's chest won't get in the way of flips and rolls. Tea hates the fact that her mother's preferred carrier choice for her is literally coded into her biology.

So she wears higher-than-high heels everyday to give herself the illusion that's she's taller than she actually is. She pads and stuffs her bra in hopes that her cleavage will miraculously grow in. She eats candy and stuffs her face with meat lover's pizza and drinks bacon fat on command in the hopes that she'll at least grow some love handles.

Because Tea hates her body and wants to take any form but the one she has.

* * *

><p><em>"If you can't get rid of the skeleton in your closet, you'd best teach it to dance."<br>- __Anonymous_

In the years after the war, Natsuki would call up both of her children to invite them and their significant others over to her place for Sunday dinner.

The resulting evening is _weird_, to say the absolute least. This is due to several factors, the most major of which is that Bakura does not approve of Amane's boyfriend. He may have put his feelings aside (rather grudgingly) during the war, but now they're back in full swing. Magic knows this and, using his newly recovered emotions, takes utter joy in _pissing him off_.

Amane, on the other hand, has always been uncomfortable around Atem due to the fact that she is determined that The Immortal never find out about her and Ryou. Atem herself spends most of the night looking like a statue because of Natsuki, of all people – and could you blame her? The first and only time the two of them ever had a conversation, Natsuki attempted to murder her in cold blood.

By the time dinner is served, Magic and Bakura's argument has dissolved into a fist fight, Atem looks like she's going to be sick, and Amane is screaming obscenities to the sky that would make old sailors blush. Natsuki, having had enough, stands up and speaks in the calm voice that only mothers have. And she _smiles_ while she's at it.

The night ends with Bakura grinning like an idiot despite his black eye and Amane and Atem talking about the pros and cons of eating cantaloupe, of all things. Magic, however, is genuinely terrified of his sort-of-mother-in-law because he's just realized where the twins get their insanity from.

Natsuki continues to host these events once a month, and they have gotten a lot tamer since their beginnings. Atem and Amane have started getting along like sisters and Bakura looks increasingly smug whenever Magic twitches because Natsuki has asked him to float the potatoes in her direction.

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><p><em>"Some people would rather get even instead of get ahead."<br>_-_ Les Brown_

Jaden Yuki hates hospitals. He honestly can't stand them. It's their smell, that sickening scent of chemicals and crap food and sickness. It's their sound, the beeps of machines and the semi-muffled announcement system calling for doctors to rush to the E.R.

It's the sight of his best friend laying in one of those damn beds, slowly wasting away into nothing.

Jesse's been there for three years. Once a day, nurses come in and change his dressings and sheets. He eats through a tube that's hooked up to a hole in his stomach, is kept hydrated through an I.V. drip in his arm. Jaden's convinced that he's losing weight regardless of the hospital's care because every time he sees him, his face seems more and more hollow.

Physically, Jesse is fine. There is nothing wrong with his body, no heart tremors or tumors or anything. The last time that Jaden had him run through a CAT scanner, the doctors had assured him that he would wake up within a week. That had been two and a half years ago.

They've cut his hair again. The last of the blue streaks that had inhabited his head have all but disappeared. He can see the veins in Jesse's bone thin hands. The beep of the heart monitor makes Jaden want to shoot something.

The face of Yubel floats into his mind. That woman, that monster who'd taken control of Jesse's mind and made him attempt to assassinate Seto Kaiba, was responsible for this. She'd broken his soul, shattered his mind. Reduced him to this.

Jaden is going to kill her. That is a given. Everyone knows that he'd be the one to end her life. What everyone doesn't know is that he is planning on making her beg for death. And then he's going to say 'no.'

He wants Yubel here, in a bed in this hated place. He wants her to waste away, trapped in her own mind, here in Jesse's place. And finally, once she is nothing but a flesh covered skeleton, Jaden Yuki will pull the plug.

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><p><strong>Hey guys!<strong>

**I'd like to thank Aqua girl 007 for her review on the last chapter.**

**So over the weekend, I went to the bookstore to grab a copy of _Warm Bodies_ by Isaac Marion - which I must say is a brilliant novel and I completely recommend it. But while I was there, I came across a beautiful notebook. On the cover was a painting of a green skinned woman with feathers in her hair and silk wrapped around her form. It was an image by Josephine Wall, called _The Spirit of Flight_. I was in need of a new notebook to rest on my bedside table (my old one had recently run out of pages), so I bought it for ten dollars.**

**Yesterday, I curled up in the corner of my bed with this book and gave myself I challenge: to write until the clock struck midnight. I started at seven o'clock and, for the next five hours, wrote all of the above drabbles and short stories. I wrote until my fingers hurt, until my eyes started to close on their own. Last night, I fell asleep with my pen in hand and I can't find any reason to regret it.**

**Sometimes, I like to do things like this: to take my mind off of the world for a little while and just relax. I only wish I could have had my window open so I could hear the sounds of the world, but alas, it was snowing last night so that wasn't really an option.**

**I'm going to be working on the next chapter of The Second Year. Bakura and Atem keep landing themselves in trouble, but then again, what fun would it be if they didn't. We're going to learn some interesting things about The Immortal and one of the spirits is going to have a bit of a reunion with her.**

**Until next time,**

**AlcatrazOutpatient**


	21. Cigarettes

**The Others: Odd Happenings**

**Disclaimer:** Yu-gi-oh! Duel Monsters is owned by Kazuki Takahashi, Studio Gallop, Nihon Ad Systems, TV Tokyo and 4Kids Entertainment. All names were changed to the characters of this fandom in order to protect the real people involved in the following incidents.

**Warning:** Mentions of sexual situations, nudity, underage drinking, drug use, homophobia, overdosing, self-hatred, and character death. Slight spoilers to The Others series.

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><p><strong>Twenty-First Page: Cigarettes<strong>

"_Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn't it? It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up."  
>- Neil Gaiman, <em>The Sandman, Vol. 9: The Kindly Ones

It starts in a parking lot.

Actually, no - that's a lie. It starts a year and a half earlier at a party where Tristan is shitfaced, mistakes Joey for a girl, and kisses the poor bastard, but he really doesn't like to count that one. For one, he can barely _remember_ doing it. And two, they didn't even know each other back then. So yeah. That party was were it starts, but the parking lot is where it _begins_.

Joey Wheeler is his best friend. Some people say that, say those words, and not really understand what they mean. Tristan does. Joey's where home is. He's awesome, appreciates Tristan's dry sense of humor, and has got his back through thick and thin. Sometimes he likes to think that his life truly began when he met Joey. The Bonnie to his Clyde. The other side of his coin. His heterosexual life partner.

Except it stops being hetero the moment Joey – Joey goddamn Wheeler – kisses him under a street lamp in a dark parking lot.

To say that it is shocking is a complete understatement. Tristan thinks that he might be dreaming, but if that's true then this is a really fucked up dream. Because there's a tongue in his mouth and lips against his own. Joey tastes like beer and smells like Old Spice deodorant. It's weird. It's weird and really, _really_ gay.

He grabs Joey by the shoulders and yanks him away. Tristan stares at him like he's never seen him before in his life (and maybe he hasn't because this is a whole different side to his best friend that he's never known as there). Joey looks confused for a second before reality slams down on him. He goes absolutely rigid and whispers, "Fuck…"

And then he's gone. Just gone. Tristan blinks and Joey is running back into the school building like there are demons on his heels – maybe there are. How long? How long had Joey known that he was…? Or was he at all? Maybe he's just confused. Maybe it's just the beer.

Except, somewhere inside, he knows that it isn't. This isn't just some experiment in sexuality because the only thing that ticks Joey off more than gays is the freak and Tristan's pretty sure that the freak's into dudes too, so the point is moot. He runs a hand through his hair and wonders what the fuck is going on.

He's an idiot. He's such a fucking idiot. What the hell is he still doing here? Joey just kissed him and he's just run off to God knows where, doing God knows what to himself. What kind of friend is he? He's such an ass.

Tristan high tails it out of the parking lot after Joey and tracks him to the boy's change rooms by the gym. He hears the sound of retching inside and slams the door open.

"Joey? Hey, Joey? You in here – oh shit!"

He sees the open bottle of pharms on the floor, surrounded by little white pills and he panics. He knows that Joey's been on anxiety meds for a few months now, so the orange tube ain't exactly new. The vomiting is and that's what scares the crap out of him. Tristan barges into the stall and sees Joey hunched over the toilet, spewing chunks, and swears.

"Jesus, man, how many did you take?"

Joey doesn't answer. Another wave of bile comes up and the guy looks like death warmed over.

Somehow, Tristan gets him out of there alive. He practically carries Joey back to his place because the guy is so high and drunk he can't even walk. He hasn't spoken a word since the kiss and Tristan's worried sick. Joey's a talker – he never shuts up, like, ever. But his jaw is locked in position so tightly that he can hear teeth grinding against each other.

Okay. Alright. _Fuck_. This was not supposed to be how this night was going to go down. There wasn't supposed to be any kissing, no spur-of-the-moment coming out of the closet moments. But he has to adapt now because it doesn't mater if Joey likes cock. He's still Joey. He's still his best friend even if he doesn't like girls. It's fine.

"It's okay," Tristan whispers to him and the guy somehow manages to become even more of a stone statue.

"No, it's not. It's not – It's not okay! I'm not a fag, damn it! I'm not!"

He's not quite sure if Joey realizes that he's even speaking, but Tristan has to stop him because it looks like the guy is going to have a stroke. So he does the only thing he can and hugs him, pulls him close and crushes him against him because this is the only way he can _get this through to him_. That it's okay. It's _okay_. Gay, straight, bi – fuck, the Joey could be goddamn trans for all he cares. He's his friend. His best friend. Nothing is going to change that.

* * *

><p>That wasn't the first time that Tristan had ever been kissed by another man. And freaking hell, is that ever a confusing fucked up story.<p>

See, he's got this friend: Jasmine. She's pretty hot, with shoulder length brown hair and a rocking body. Tristan's known her since third grade when he went down on one knee and proposed to her with a ring pop. She giggled and wore the thing for a week before the little plastic loop got lost. When she'd cried over it, he'd sat with her and listened to her story about how her parents were going through a rather nasty custody battle over her and her sister as part of their divorce.

Anyways, life went on and his ring pop proposal had long since passed from their minds. Tristan had always had a thing for her somewhere deep down, but it wasn't big enough to hurt when she started dating Harry when they hit high school.

Harrington, or Harry to his friends (seriously, who named their kid Harrington in this century?), is a good guy and he treats Jasmine with all the respect anyone can give a girl. Tristan likes him, though he thinks his tennis obsession is pretty freaking weird. He needs to tone it down a bit when watching those games.

Tristan specifically ignores how he actually enjoys watching Joey get worked up over NFL stats and the like.

But anyways, he was hanging out with them once at Jasmine's house during the summer after ninth grade. Her folks are out and he's on his second beer when things start getting interesting. Jasmine and Harry share a look before she swings into Tristan's lap and kisses him.

After some really odd conversations, specifically designed to calm Tristan's racing heart the fuck down, the three of them end up in Jasmine's bedroom. As it turns out, she's really kinky in the sheets and Harry's not exactly the straightest dude on the face of the earth. The guy doesn't try much, but his mouth might have ended up on Tristan's at one point. He doesn't really care: any arousal he had that night was a direct result of Jasmine and it's not like it made him any less of a man or anything.

This night turns out not to be a one time thing. Jasmine and Harry have some kind of 'open relationship' and they'd like him to be apart of it from time to time. Tristan realizes that they're basically asking him to be their booty call when they want to try out certain things that involve more than two sets of hands and he's all right with that. It's not shutting him off from going out with other girls. He's not committed. And Tristan might have to put up with Harry wanting to make out, but he'll be fine with it as long as Jasmine's there and letting him grope her tits.

Though he doesn't make a habit of telling other people this, he tells it to Joey a few days after the parking lot incident.

"I mean, yeah, I'm straight and all, but it's fine, really. It's okay. I don't give a shit if you're gay, Joey. Really, I don't."

Joey doesn't say anything for the longest time. Then he sniffs and mumbles, "I like girls."

Tristan blinks, "So, what, you're bi then?"

"No," he snaps. "I'm straight! I've always been straight. I'm into girls."

"Really? 'Cause what happened a few nights tells me otherwise," he raises an eyebrow.

"Nothing happened! I was drunk. You were drunk! You were seeing things," Joey yells. "I ain't no fucking fag!"

Then he gets it. Joey's in denial. He's gay and he hates it, so he shoves it all down and pretends that he doesn't get off on the idea of another guy's body. Tristan almost laughs at the stupidity of it all. The homophobic, gay as the Fourth of July, jock. It's like an episode of fucking Glee – not that he watches that show or anything. It's his sister. She's a freaking fanatic and he's picked up a few things over the years.

So he plays along. He agrees that, okay, Joey's straight even though its damn obvious that he's not. Tristan's surprised he hasn't picked it out before. But then again, he wasn't _looking_ for anything then. If he'd been, he'd have seen the looks that Joey gives him out of the corner of his eye. He would have seen that, sometimes when he hesitates on something, it wasn't the guy thinking about what to say; it was him reorganizing his words so that he wouldn't say what he wanted to. It was all part of some massive cover up so that no one would think that Joey Wheeler was gay.

* * *

><p>As much as he is ashamed to admit it, Tristan takes another week and a half to figure out that while, yes, Joey kissed him because he was gay, he'd also kissed him because he <em>liked<em> him. And, really, this should have been obvious from the get go because kissing someone isn't the usual method people use to come out of the closet.

That is what makes it awkward – not anything else that has happened between them. It doesn't matter that Joey tried to shove his tongue down his throat. What matters now is _why_ he did it. He has a freaking crush on Tristan.

He doesn't know how to do this. How exactly does one let their best friend down easily when said best friend won't even admit to having the crush in the first place? He wishes that he could just send Joey off to counseling or Google the answers to this shit, but he can't. He doesn't want to freak the guy out by bringing this all up again.

So life goes on. They don't bring up the parking lot, pretending like it never happened. But sometimes Tristan wonders how Joey lives like this. It can't be healthy. He sees it sometimes, when the frustration gets to be too much and Joey gets irritable for no reason. Usually, when this happens, he takes it out on the freak. Tristan gets in on it too because, hell, why not. It's not like the freak can't take it. He's a sick fuck anyways, no matter how much he creeps Tristan out.

Then, one day, he catches Joey after practice staring down the opening of his anxiety meds and he loses it. He's scared and desperate because he can't stomach the idea of his best friend ODing on pills. Last time had been too close for comfort and, damn it, why is this so freaking hard to accept. They live in the twenty-first century, in fucking New York State! It's not like this is the 1950s. It's not like this is freaking Mississippi! What the fuck? What the actual fuck?!

And somehow, this results in him shoving his hand down Joey's pants. He likes to say that he doesn't know how it happened, but in reality, he could document every goddamn second.

He's yelling. Joey's yelling back. They're three steps away from blows when Tristan shouts, "Well, maybe if you jerked off more often, you wouldn't be so fucking uptight about it!"

Joey does an encore performance of his statue imitation and something clicks in Tristan's head. He doesn't. Joey Wheeler has some fucking weird idea that celibacy will de-gay him or something. And it's so fucking stupid.

He frustrated. Hell, Tristan has had it up to his eyeballs with this bullshit and he's not even the one with the stick up his ass. Part of him wants Joey to accept this side of his self. Part of him is just angry and confused because Joey _likes him_ and had kissed him in a dark parking lot. And they never fucking talk about it.

So he throws Joey into the space underneath the bleachers, slamming him against one of the support beams. The guy sputters through a few curse words and then clams up when he sees what Tristan's doing.

Just has Tristan's fingers slip under the waistband of his briefs, Joey swallows hard, "W-what…? Trist – _god_, what are you…?"

"Just…just relax, alright? This isn't about me," he tries to keep his voice even, but then Joey grabs onto the sleeve of his jacket like it's the only thing keeping him from dying. He shoves down the wave of self-consciousness and _what the fuck are you doing_ and gets to work.

When it's all over, Joey knees give out and he slowly slides down the pole until he hits the ground. He won't open his eyes or let go of Tristan's sleeve. He just sits there and breathes like there's nothing else in the world to do. Then he slumps forward, resting his forehead in the juncture of Tristan's neck. He jumps a bit when he feels Joey's lips ghost over the skin there.

Okay, this is getting a little out of hand. He moves back and hauls Joey to his feet. His friend straightens his clothing in silence, refusing to even look in Tristan's direction. He gets a bit annoyed at that.

"Look," he breathes. "Just…stop, okay? There's nothing wrong with it. There's no lightning strikes or locusts or death rays striking you down. It's okay, Joey. It's okay to be this way. That's what I wanted to show you. That's all."

Joey stays silent, but looks up at Tristan. His mouth is a thin line, barely even there. And then he moves, cocking his fist back and slamming into the side of his face.

"Don't even – just don't! You don't know! You don't understand, don't even pretend to understand! Don't touch me again!"

Three days later, Joey announces to their little group of friends that he and Tea Gardner are going out. It lasts about a month before the girl calls it off, but Tristan has never wanted to strangle someone so much in his entire life.

* * *

><p>The jerking off thing doesn't stop. He doesn't exactly know why it keeps going, but it does and Joey has never made a move to say no or push him off. The only thing that he does do is clutch his sleeve and bite his lip when it happens. He's even stopped closing his eyes.<p>

That's when things start getting weird for Tristan. He figured he'd be okay with this, having never experienced any kind of attraction to a guy before in his life. Hell, he'd had sex in the same room as one before and there had been nothing. That's just the way he was: straight as an arrow, but comfortable enough with his own masculinity that he could do stuff like this and not feel like anything was off.

And then things start going off. He starts noticing these little things, like the straining muscles of Joey's neck when he throws his head back. Tristan can practically feel his hitching breath in his own lungs and the hand that grabs at his sleeve is far too warm. He looks up and fucking stares into Joey's eyes as he cums and it's terrifying.

Their walk home is uncomfortable on most days, but after that it is stifling. Tristan can't get over the things that he saw and Joey doesn't want to admit that anything just happened. Except, just before they part ways, the guy turns to him with a frown.

"Are you alright?" He asks.

Tristan does an awkward little shuffle and stares at his feet, "Why wouldn't I be?"

Joey looks off to the side, nodding but not accepting anything. Then he glances back, reaches out and grips his shoulder. His hand lingers a second too long for the gesture to be completely platonic before saying, "Later, then."

Tristan spends the night rubbing the spot where Joey touched him, almost to see if anything had changed with his skin. He feels a lump in is throat that is so similar to disappointment when he notices that nothing has.

* * *

><p>Things just seem to snowball from there. While on the outside it appears that nothing has changed between the two of them, their stolen moments under the bleachers take on a completely different form. Tristan finds himself wanting to touch Joey – not just in their usual way, but to feel his skin against his fingertips. He starts to look forward to the things that make him gasp and squirm. The way his teeth grind together when he cums is far to arousing now for him to claim that he's completely straight.<p>

Needless to say, this confuses the shit out of him. He's never had a reaction like this towards another man before. He's always liked the soft curves of the female form and yet he suddenly finds himself craving the hard lines and strength of Joey's body. Tristan considers calling up Harry and asking for some kind of introductory sex-ed course into this whole gay thing, but the idea of touching that guy still doesn't do anything for him. In fact, it makes him feel kind of uncomfortable just thinking about it.

So, okay. Maybe its not all dudes that he likes. Maybe its just Joey. That can happen, right? He sure hopes so because he can't explain what he's feeling otherwise. He still likes girls, though. Jasmine is proof of that. Its just now there's Joey too.

Eventually, his interest in his best friend starts to expand outwards from the land of sexuality and into their personal life. Tristan feels the need to lean against him to feel the warmth of his body. His heart starts to pound when Joey lets loose one of his infamous, loud as fuck laughs. At night, sometimes Tristan presses a hand into the empty side of his bed and wonders why the hell Joey's not lying beside him.

But it's alright. It's fine. He'll learn to adapt with this new change to his world. He can do that, so it's fine. Really. He's not freaking out about the fact that he may or may not like his best friend. And what's weird is that that isn't denial. It's the honest truth.

God, he needs a cigarette.

He started smoking in tenth grade and can't find it in himself to kick the habit. He stands outside his parent's condo, leaning against a street light and takes a drag. He tugs at the collar of his coat and wonders why the hell things had to be so fucking complicated.

Except it wasn't really that complicated. He was comfortable around Joey, so things started to happen between them. It was kind of like how it was with Jasmine and Harry. He never would have agreed to any sort of arrangement with the pair of them if he hadn't been completely one hundred and twenty percent okay with it all. And while things had gotten a bit out of hand with Joey, it all stemmed back to the fact that, with him, it just seemed right.

He takes another drag and exhales smoke out into the night. He watches as the cloud of grey floats off into the sky and disappears.

* * *

><p>Then the freak happens. Needless to say, the events of that day scare the ever-loving crap out of him. Something completely invisible slams into him and pulls the gun he'd stolen from his dad's rack to show off to Joey right out of his hands. Then the invisible thing fucking <em>speaks<em> and the two of them run for their lives. Because shit like that didn't happen in real life. What the fuck? Seriously, what the actual fuck?!

By the time they stop running, they're leaning against the back wall of Joey's apartment building next to the dumpster. His knees are shaking. His whole body is shaking. Tristan needs something to ground himself in reality, so he reaches for Joey's hand.

His best friend doesn't knock him away. If anything, he grips it so tight that his bones creak in protest. He doesn't care. He _needs_ this. He needs this comfort, this feeling of humanity. He needs Joey.

Tristan leans into his body, lips grazing against his jaw. Joey tenses for a second and looks like he's ready to bolt. But if he has learned anything out of this whole thing, its that the guy is the most comfortable in his own skin when he's out of sorts. And considering that they are both batshit terrified, Joey's more likely to walk in the Pride Parade than run away right now.

"Touch me," he begs in a whispered voice. "_Please_…"

Joey looks him dead in the eye, presses a full on kiss against his collar, and then goes down on him.

It's a bit awkward at first. Joey clearly has no experience sucking cock and his teeth get painfully close at certain points, but he's a quick learner and Tristan is eventually left with no other option than to grab at his hair and tug for the sake of his sanity. His legs are still shaking, but for a different reason now, and he has to lock his knees so that he doesn't collapse on the ground when Joey cups his balls. He hisses and gasps his way over the edge and doesn't regret a single thing.

Afterwards, they sit together, backs against the wall. Tristan lights up and offers Joey the box, which he turns down. It's not a fucking post-coital cigarette, except it kind of is. He looks over and sees his best friend's tongue flitting out over his swollen red lips and thinks about kissing him.

He doesn't though. He's not going to push this. Kissing would introduce a level of intimacy into their fucked up relationship that he's pretty sure Joey isn't ready for. Hell, he needs to think about this himself. He needs to figure out what it is that he really wants out of Joey before springing it on him.

He finishes his cig and stomps out the glowing embers underneath his shoes. He looks over to see that Joey is staring at him with some soft form of amazement and doesn't hesitate to rest his head on the guy's shoulder. Fingers intertwine with his own and they sit there together until long after the sun has set.

* * *

><p>Joey is so on edge for the next four weeks that Tristan doesn't dare suggest that they do anything even remotely sexual. His favourite punching bag isn't around, off at some weird college prep school that is apparently interested in failing students. Sometimes he catches Joey looking at him, though he turns away before he can confirm it for sure. But then he starts to hit on Amane and jealousy wells up in his stomach, making it hard to breathe.<p>

It starts off as a revenge tactic. He talks to the little Japanese girl that follows Amane around, smiling and being nice and flirting a bit. They exchange numbers and spend most of the night texting each other. Miho starts to grow on him a bit and when he mentions this to Joey, the guy refuses to talk to him for a week.

It makes him feel a bit smug, but at the same time it hurts because he misses his best friend. He misses the laugher and the corny jokes and the sneaking out of their houses to walk around the city after midnight. Tristan misses the hands on his sleeve, the feel of Joey's body moving against his, and the lips against his skin. No girl, however sort-of interesting she might be, is worth losing that.

He tracks the guy down after a game. Joey is surprisingly complacent about how he leads him away from the rest of his teammates and into their little alcove behind the bleachers. They sit down against the poles and Tristan needs something to do with his hands or he'll go insane from the oppressive silence. He pulls out his lighter and box of cigs, taking a big breath and exhaling the smoke from his lungs before starting.

"I'm not gay," he says suddenly.

Joey shrugs, "Neither am I."

"Dude, let's not start this again. You had my dick in your mouth. That's pretty gay," Tristan snorts and knocks a bit of ash from the end of his cig.

He grunts and Tristan takes that as an indicator to continue, "I just want you to understand, alright. Before all of this…before this thing started, I thought I was straight. Hell, maybe I still am. I'm not really sure."

Joey starts picking at the fraying fabric of his coat, looking at his feet the entire time.

"What I'm trying to say is that it's not all guys, alright. There are girls and then…well, there's you. You're different," he tells him. Joey takes a chance and glances up at him, confused about the meaning behind his words. Tristan takes a long drag and then says in a shaking voice, "I don't care that you're different. I really don't care. I…I like it."

Great. He's killed him. He can't even tell if Joey is breathing right now. He's just staring at Tristan with a slack jawed expression on his face. He licks his lips and puts out his cigarette.

"Joey?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm gonna kiss you now, okay?"

Joey doesn't move as Tristan leans forwards and presses his lips against his own.

The kiss is simple, nothing too fancy. He doesn't want to go scaring Joey off after all. But he can feel it all the way in his toes and while this time the guy doesn't taste like beer, he still smells like Old Spice and its probably one of the greatest moments of his entire seventeen years.

He pulls back, resting his forehead against Joey's, and simply breathes. Then Tristan sits back and watches the expression on his best friend's face.

His eyes open slowly as if from a dream. Then, immediately, his back straightens uncomfortably and his head snaps away. Joey fingers his lips and bites the inside of his cheek. He looks over at Tristan and then away again.

Then an interesting little thing happens. The corners of his mouth start to curve upwards. Joey seems to fight the entire process like he's just searching for something to bitch about. But then he gives up as an honest to God _giggle_ escapes from his lips. He looks at Tristan again before throwing his head back and laughs outright.

He takes this as a good sign. The even better sign comes when Joey swings into Tristan's lap, cups his face and kisses him outright. Joey's smiling and laughing and maybe even crying a little, but he doesn't point it out. He's too busy kissing him right back to bother with words. Joey's lips move from his mouth to his cheek, then his eyelids, then his jaw and forehead and the part of his wrist where his pulse can be found. He kisses Tristan like he's just been given a gift that he's always wanted but never knew that he could have.

It's quite possibly the best Christmas present either of them could have possibly received.

* * *

><p>He gets a call from Joey a few weeks later.<p>

"Hey, um…there's this movie that a few guys from the team and I are going to go and see," he hears on the other end. "I was just…uh, wondering if you, um, wanted to tag along or something."

"Who's coming?" Tristan raises an eyebrow and listens as Joey lists a few members of the football team that he can stand. He agrees, asking for a time and place.

The funny thing is, when he shows up to the theatre, Joey tells him rather awkwardly that the others have had to cancel for one reason or another. He bites his lip and says, "I guess it's just you and me, then – if you're still up for it and all."

Tristan, thinking back on it, wonders why the hell that didn't tip him off first. But it doesn't and they go see the latest installment in the Terminator series. He wonders just how the hell they managed to find a Schwarzenegger look alike to play the roll once filled by the aged former Governor. The guy is pretty good at his impersonations, so much so that if he didn't know, he'd believe that it was actually him.

Afterwards, Joey and Tristan go and grab something to eat at the Burger King across the road. They're laughing over the plot line when Joey reaches across the table and steels one of his fries. Without missing a beat, he shoves it in his mouth and starts to chew.

And it hits him. This is a _date_.

Holy shit. _Holy shit_. Tristan's insides do a series of really complex gymnastic tricks and then tie themselves into knots because, mother of God, this is a date. An actual I-like-you-you-like-me-let's-do-the-romance-thing date. With Joey Wheeler. Joey mother fucking Wheeler, his best friend who was so stuck in the closet that Tristan wondered if he'd ever come out. And here he is, _trying_.

He doesn't want to let Joey realize that he'd caught on to this fact, but he thinks that some of it shows through. The guy hesitates mid-sentence and grabs at his soda, nearly crushing it to death in the process. Tristan lets out a snort, nods his head, and smiles. It puts Joey at ease and the conversation continues.

He thinks back on the last few weeks and realizes that this isn't the first time that something like this had happened. Like the time that Joey and him had snuck into the baseball stadium downtown and watched the game. Or the time a few days after that when the two of them waited in line for, like, six hours for the newest release of Halo arrive in stores. Tristan realizes that those incidents are pretty much usual occurrences, but there were parts of them that weren't.

Joey buying him drinks at the stadium wasn't usual. The hand on the small of his back while they were standing outside the store wasn't usual. And neither was that thing with the fry.

He blinks as he comes to the conclusion that this isn't only a date. It's the _third_ date. Things happen on third dates. It's a marking place, where you either go forth and enter a freaking _relationship_ (oh god, oh god, oh god) or you don't. He's not opposed to the first option. In fact, he thinks it's the better of the two. It's just that maybe Joey could give him a little warning about the fact that he is expected to figure out whether or not he'll be putting out tonight.

The idea of having sex doesn't alarm him. Even the rational thought that he'd probably be bottoming due to Joey's fears about himself doesn't freak him out. To be honest, he's sort of done that before when Jasmine had taken an interest in pegging. It's not his favourite thing to do in the bedroom, but maybe it would be different with Joey.

Okay. Okay. So, sex – that's happening. He just hopes that Joey's packing with a bit more equipment than condoms because anal hurts like fuck when there's no lube. There's probably something in his bathroom that he could improvise with in a pinch if they end up there. And they most likely will because his condo is closer. Now the main issue he faces is getting Joey up there without freaking him out too much.

It doesn't take much, surprisingly. The two of them stand in the lobby for his building for a few seconds, staring at each other and shuffling their feet, before Tristan motions to the elevators and mentions something about his Xbox. Joey agrees a bit too quickly for it to be completely natural, but he doesn't give a damn.

The console's in his room and Joey knows this. He waves to Tristan's sister who's sitting in the living room and watching Big Bang Theory. He's a familiar face in the household, so no one questions why he's been lead into Tristan's room.

The door just shuts before Tristan pulls Joey's face to his own. Unlike before, this kiss is full of passion and promises, as does the fact that he's got a boner that rivals the size of most skyscrapers that he presses against Joey's hip. He barely has time to turn on his TV and crank the volume before he is tackled into the bed and stripped of his clothes.

As it turns out, Joey had thought ahead and had the necessary stuff to pull the whole thing off. He's more than a bit terrified at the idea of hurting Tristan, but he knows what he needs to do in order to make sure that that doesn't happen. He wonders about some of the girl's that Joey's been with and thinks that maybe he'd done this with one of them. He doesn't care. He doesn't feel jealousy. They'd meant nothing to Joey. All that matters was here and now.

It's pretty fucking amazing. It's nothing like that one time with Jasmine and her strap on. Joey is hot and hard inside of him, rubbing against _that spot_ in him that makes him lose control over his voice. He claws at his best friend's back, hooking his legs around his hips to draw him closer. Tristan tries to hold out for as long as he can, but that's not very long. When he cums, he's got Joey's name on his lips and his hand in his own and it's _wonderful_.

Joey goddamn Wheeler, his one acceptation. His, his, _his_.

* * *

><p>Joey does really well for a while. He's down right cheery for almost a month. They spend that time laughing and kissing and fucking and its great. Two thirds of the way through the second week, Tristan even gets his chance to get on top. He throws his best friend up against a wall and takes him hard and fast, whispering in his ear about <em>good<em> he feels. Joey snickers afterwards, joking that he didn't know that Tristan had such a filthy mouth.

He drops to his knees and brings Joey off again for that comment. Surprisingly, being on the delivering end of a blowjob that sends the recipient into a complete frenzy makes him feel like the manliest motherfucker on the planet. Tristan doesn't think other guys will understand, but it does.

And then Joey relapses. He has a fucking gay panic in the middle of football practice and gets tackled so hard by one of the linebackers that Tristan jumps up from his seat in the stands, terrified that he's been injured. He doesn't get up right away and that only adds to the horror that is quickly filling his mind, but when he does he's pale and clammy and shaking like a leaf.

He won't let Tristan touch him. He pretends that there is nothing between them but platonic friendship, that they'd never kissed or had sex or anything like that. It hurts more than it should. Tristan spends his nights with his head shoved under his pillow in an attempt to drown out his screams of agony.

But the worse part comes when he finds out that Amane fucking Bakura is 'going out' with Joey. He can't pretend that that doesn't kill him inside. He goes through more than a pack of cigs a day just to get his flashes of anger under control. That damn bitch didn't deserve him. She'd never appreciate Joey the way he did. She'd never know him the way he did.

A few weeks later, Joey shows up at his front door. He's soaking wet from the rain that's pouring from the sky outside. Tristan's home alone, but it wouldn't matter anyways. Joey looks so tired and pathetic when he topples forward and buries his face in Tristan's shirt.

They sleep together that night, but only in the literal scene of the word. Tristan's pretty sure that he's here asking for some kind of forgiveness that he doesn't dare express openly. Something hits him hard in the chest when he finds thin scars on Joey's wrists. They're far too symmetrical to be accidental. There's something very heavy in his eyes when Tristan pulls his hands to his lips and kisses the scars gently, as if he's hoping to heal them with his touch.

Sometimes he wonders who or what it is that fucked Joey over so badly in the head for him to hate himself like he does. He thinks it has something to do with the fact that he's a pretty hard core Catholic. He knows what the Bible says about gays, but that's not just it. Contrary to popular belief, Joey's pretty smart when he wants to apply himself. He's just lazy. But even he knows that most times religious text is supposed to be taken with a grain of salt. The book was written a couple thousand years ago. People's attitudes have changed a bit since then.

It couldn't have been his friends. Duke might get uncomfortable when the guys in his following hit on him, but that's because he doesn't understand how to respond to that sort of attention. Tristan's always expected that Tea and Amane were a bit too close to be just friends. And as for Miho…he doesn't want to think about Miho right now.

That leads his family. It's pretty unlikely that the hatred stems from his sister, Serenity. He can't even think of that girl and the word hatred in the same sentence. It's definitely not Joey's father. Joseph Wheeler is about as left wing as you can get in America without people screaming about him being part of a Nazi communist cult. So that leaves the guy's mother.

Tristan never had the chance to meet Jennifer Moss, but from what he has heard about her, she was beautiful. Joey loves her, even though he hasn't seen her since he was seven. He wants find her some day and bring her home to his father who, despite everything, still wears his wedding ring. He mentions something about cocaine once, but doesn't elaborate much. Tristan understands, though.

He knows Joey comes from a messed up household. He knows that they've always had money problems and that they only came to Domino for his sister and her eye thing. He knows that Joseph is a former alcoholic – Serenity quite vocal about it, though she usually is talking about her father's recovery and not anything else.

He also knows that Jennifer Moss is the reason why Joey is as into the religion thing as he is. It's her Bible that rests on his bedside table. He notices that Serenity never actually talks about her mother and wonders if there was something that went on during the years before the two of them met. He wonders if it was that woman that instilled this hatred into him.

If its true, though, Tristan thinks he might actually kill the woman. It wouldn't fix Joey, not by a long shot. But it would make him feel a lot better.

* * *

><p>Everything changes again in the middle of April. Joey's just come home from an away game on the other side of the state. They won again (of course they fucking won, they've got Joey on the team and he's brilliant) and he's smiling. Tristan truly laughs for the first time since the whole Amane thing went down. He slings an arm over Joey's shoulders and demands to get a play-by-play account of the whole thing.<p>

They camp out under one of the trees just off of school property. He's halfway through describing one of the passes he through during the second quarter when Tristan gets a craving for a cigarette. He reaches mundanely into the backpack where he keeps his box, only to find it completely empty.

Joey pauses in his story as he notices. He rolls his eyes at him before reaching for his duffle bag and pulling a box of Tristan's preferred brand. He tosses at him with a smirk.

"But you don't even smoke," Tristan stares at the cigs in his hand in amazement.

"Yeah, but I knew you were running low. Saw 'em in this store and thought I pick some up for you."

It's stupid, but that's all it takes. A box of cigarettes and Tristan tips over the edge, into the gaping maw of warmth and lightheadedness that is love. It consumes him in that moment and he can't help that welcome it with open arms. He leans back into the tree he's propped himself up against and lights up. As he inhales, Joey launches back into his story, using wild hand gestures and sound effects to make it all the more vivid. Tristan smiles and watches him like he's something to be treasured. And, in a way, he is.

* * *

><p>Things start going back to the way things were before not long after. Except now, Tristan doesn't think of it as fucking. Hell, he's genuinely hesitant to call it sex. He makes love to Joey, touches him in ways that he never wants anyone else to. He knows that he wasn't Joey's first, but he wants to be his last and that makes all the difference.<p>

They steal moments to themselves whenever they can, because only when they are alone Joey gains the courage to do anything even remotely romantic. He might not like it, but Tristan accepts it as part of who he is. He can do this because he can think of 'one day' and 'the future' – a day when his best friend will be able to understand that there is nothing wrong with him, that he isn't wrong in any way, that his mother was wrong to ever convince him of that idiocy.

And then the freak happens again. It was during one of Joey's darker of days, when he's irritable and staring at knives like Tristan stares at cigarettes. But then someone lets it slip that the freak is bringing his sister as his date to prom. Joey loses his shit, nearly upsetting the table as he stands up and heads in the direction the nearest member of the football team.

Next thing he knows, he's on the sidelines watching Joey and the team fighting against the freak. Well, he says fighting. He really means that they're trying to even hit the asshole, who's grinning stupidly and dodging them like he's dancing across the floor. But then Amane runs out into the middle of everything and Joey accidentally hits her. She does down like a bag of rocks. And the freak goes crazy.

Seriously, it's like watching a Jason Bourne movie. One moment, the bastard's calm and control, the next moment he's taking down five guys that are built like tanks. When he gets to Joey, he sends him flying with a single hand to the head. Tristan runs towards him and kneels at his side.

The freak and his sister clear out, taking with them the raging whirlwind of anger that is that little white haired fucker. Joey lies motionless on the floor. He won't open his eyes no matter what Tristan does to try and wake him up. The people around them are walking away, the excitement gone, but no one even stops to think about the fact that Joey Wheeler _isn't getting up_. His eyes sting as he dials 911 with shaking hands.

He and Serenity ride in the ambulance together. She's holding Joey's hand. He wants to, but doesn't dare out of respect for his best friend. He doesn't know if Joey _wants_ his family to know about them just yet. So he holds out and his fingers twitch for a smoke.

* * *

><p>He visits Joey every day for the next week that he's in the hospital. He wakes up a few times, but not for long. In the moments when they're alone together, Tristan holds his hand and strokes the side of his face. Joey doesn't even bother with the denial now. He leans into his touch, lips brushing against the palms of his hands.<p>

Other times, Serenity and Joseph visit. He's always gotten along with the pair of them, but now he feels sick because _they don't know_ and he hates lying to them. Those two, out of everyone else in the world, deserve to know the truth about his relationship with Joey.

He knows that they're struggling to get Joey the medical care he needs. He was there when Serenity's boyfriend, Duke, took Joseph aside and offered him money to help them along. Joey's father thanks him for the offer, but doesn't take him up on it. Tristan sits by the bedside of his best friend and starts thinking about how much money he has in his bank account. A few hundred bucks wouldn't do much in the way of treatment, but it was better than nothing right?

It's on one of these days where the air just gets so fucking stifling that he excuses himself from Serenity's presence. He walks out of the hospital and stands just outside the door. He pulls his box of cigarettes out of his pocket, but instead of lighting up, he just stares at them. His vision blurs and, before he knows it, tears are running down his face.

God, fuck, this isn't how it was supposed to go. Joey doesn't belong in a fucking hospital bed. He belongs out on the field, throwing a pass. He belongs in Burger Kings, attempting to steel fries from unknowing dates. He belongs in parking lots in the dead of night, kissing him under street lamps. He loves him and this isn't supposed to fucking happen.

Eventually, he wipes his eyes dry and heads back inside. He stops in the bathroom to splash water on his face and hopefully remove the blood shot look from his eyes, before moving back towards Joey's rooms.

The freak is hunched over him. His hands are glowing red, his _eyes_ are glowing red, and there are some freaking tribal tattoos on his skin that look like dried blood. Tristan thinks about the graveyard and the invisible thing that had knocked him over. And there the freak is, looking like he's about to perform some sort of sacrifice to a pagan god. Something protective wells up inside of him and he lashes out.

The freak then processes to leap out the fucking window – the window located four freaking stories above the ground. Tristan waits for the sound of the fucker's body going splat on the concrete, but it never comes. He leans out the now open square in the wall and sees a blob of white hair running away at near impossible speeds.

"Tristan?" Joey's voice is clearer than he's heard it in weeks. He's sitting up in bed, staring at the open window like it's a fucking unicorn. He points towards it, "Did that just happen? Jesus, what kind of drugs did they give me?"

Then he tries to kind out of bed and Tristan panics again, but for different reasons, "Whoa, man! What the fuck are you doing?"

"Dude, I'm fine," he counters. "Seriously, whatever the docs gave me, I feel great."

"Joey, you've been asleep for two days. The doctors haven't given you _anything_," Tristan grips his shoulders, trying to steer him back into the bed. Then a nurse bursts in and suddenly he's babbling some sort of explanation about what happened. But the lady stares at Joey like he's Jesus Christ come back to earth as she makes the cross on her chest.

The doctors say it's a miracle. Joey's cleared and ready to go home. Tristan stands and watches as Joseph and Serenity load him into their car and drive off. He turns his head and sees Amane standing on the curl with the oddest look on her face. She turns towards him and nods before disappearing into the crowds.

He spends the entire night on the phone with Joey, laying in his bed and remembering the nights that they'd spent there together. He hears him laugh on the other end and smiles gently.

"Hey, Joey. I was thinking something…"

There's a snort and then, "That hurt when you do that?"

"Shut up," he rolls his eyes. "Look, I k-know its kind of last minute…literally…but I was wondering…well, you know about prom, right? That it's tomorrow?"

Joey's silent for a moment. And then he hears, "What about it?"

"You still going?"

"Yeah."

"Wanna…" he swallows hard. "Wanna go with me?"

Joey says nothing, so he quickly adds in, "No one needs to know. It can just be our secret –"

"Yeah."

"What?"

"Yeah. Alright," Tristan can hear the tremors in Joey's voice and knows just how big of a leap this is for him.

"Alright," he breathes a sigh of relief. Then he jumps a foot in the air when he hears his mother bang on his bedroom door, telling him to hang up and go to sleep.

"Look, I gotta go," he says hurriedly. And then, before he can stop himself, the words just pour out, "I love you. Bye."

He hangs up and stares at his phone in horror. What the hell was that? He's spent all this time trying to make Joey feel as comfortable as possible with this whole 'being in a relationship with a man' thing and now he's just messed it up. For all he knows, the guy is probably going to spend the next month in denial again rather than deal with the fact that Tristan's _in love_ with him. Hell, Joey could be in such a state that he might never speak to him again.

God, why did he have to open his big fucking mouth and ruin it all?

Except it isn't ruined. Joey shows up the prom, dressed in a suit that makes Tristan think certain thoughts that shouldn't be voiced in public. He cleans up good for a guy who spends most of his life in dirty cargo pants and t-shirts. And he's acting normal – well, as normal as normal comes when Joey is involved. Tristan can sense that something is up, but it doesn't seem to be the usual things that send him into a mood.

He should be enjoying himself, but in reality, Tristan is freaking the fuck out. What is going on? Shouldn't Joey have said something, _anything_, by now? People don't stay silent when the 'I love you' card has been pulled. That's the law, isn't it? He bites his lip and then leaves to go to the bathroom.

A few seconds after the door closes, it bursts open again. Tristan whirls around before Joey slams him against the wall. He's almost expecting a punch of frustration, but that doesn't come. Instead, lips descend on his own and Joey is kissing him like his life depends on it.

"W-what the hell was that about?" He asks.

"Don't act like you don't know, Tristan," Joey hisses before returning to kissing him.

Okay. Alright. This is happening. He doesn't know _why_ exactly because Joey has never taken the chance of someone finding out about them before. So making out in a bathroom where anyone could walk in on them is a huge deal. Bigger than huge, even.

Joey pulls back just enough to whisper, "Could you say it again?"

"Say whaaa – oh," his eyes bug out. This is about what he'd said last night. He doesn't mind. Joey wants him to say it again. Something bubbles happily in his stomach as he says, "I love you, Joey Wheeler."

A near hysterical laugh works its way out of his best friend's mouth. Joey wraps his arms around Tristan's waist and sways slightly to the music that is filtering in off the dance floor.

"I wanna tell people," Tristan murmurs suddenly. Joey freezes, his breath stopping completely. Quickly, he gets in the rest of his explanation, "Not everyone. Not yet. It's just…our friends, your sister. They deserve to know. About us."

"But what if –"

"They won't," he stresses. "They won't, I promise. It'll be fine."

"But still, what if?" Joey's face starts draining itself of colour.

"Then…then they don't deserve us. They don't fucking deserve us because there isn't a goddamn thing wrong with us," Tristan reaches for him and makes it so that they're staring each other in the face.

"Why, though? Why now, Tristan?"

Tristan smiles slightly, "Because I love you, you asshole. And I want people to know."

"_Why?_"

"Because I want them to keep their fucking hands off you. You're _mine_."

Joey laughs at that. Then he leans forward and rests his chin on Tristan's shoulder. They stay like that for the longest while before Joey whispers, "Okay."

He kisses him. He loves him.

He loves Joey enough to take a bullet for him, as it turns out.

Time just seems to slow down. They're herded into a corner by the freak and Amane and then the front door bursts open. People in riot gear storm in and one of them points a gun in the direction of Joey. And it just happens. Tristan steps forward, completely and utterly calm, and stands in front of him. There's a loud bang, a sharp pain in his forehead, and then nothing. He's gone.

* * *

><p>Except he isn't gone. Not really. Tristan's not quite sure what's happening, but he wakes up amongst the rubble of the destroyed banquet hall and feels like death.<p>

Then he sees his corpse beside him and screams. He can see a few others beside him doing the same thing. They'll pale and translucent, like ghosts. Tristan looks down at his own hands and realizes he can see the earth through them. He sits on his knees, hands yanking at his hair as he rocks back and forth.

Eventually, he and the others here the sound of sirens in the distance. Fire trucks pull up and start putting out what fires are left burning around them. Tristan tries to get their attention, to get them to help him, but no one can see him. He and the others crowd together and seek comfort in each other as coroners start arriving on the scene.

Jasmine is amongst them. She clings to Tristan, her voice muffled by his shirt. It sounds like she's talking underwater when she says, "What's happening?"

"I don't know," he tells her the truth.

"Where's Harry?"

"I don't know."

Joey. Oh god, Joey. Is he here, too? Is he alright? He can't think much more of it because his body is being taken away and he feels the compulsion to follow it into the back of the ambulance. He sits with the owner of the other body, a gangly kid that he recognizes from the halls. Tristan doesn't know his name and he doesn't ask.

Then things get a bit blurry and he means that quite literally. He can't see much of anything and merely spends his time following around his body like a fucking zombie. Nothing passes through his head and he feels like he wants to be sick, except he can't because he doesn't have a fucking stomach anymore.

Things clear up again at his funeral. He sees his family first, sitting in the back row. His mother is crying into the shoulder of his stone-faced father. His older brother looks forward blankly, while his sister holds his hand like it's a lifeline. Tristan stands in front of them, trying to reach them, but his fingers slip through them like water.

He screams in frustration, in fear. And then he spots Joey.

He runs towards him because this was how things worked, right? Tristan might be dead, but he loves Joey. They have a connection, something heart wrenching that could transcend death and _bring him back_. That's how it worked. That's how it always worked. Oh god, please work. He can't die. He can't leave Joey behind.

"Joey," his breathes a non-existent breath. He kneels in front of him as his hands feather around his form, too scared to touch him. Joey looks like a corpse. The whites of his eyes are practically red and there are black bags hanging underneath him. His skin is so pale and drawn that it's practically gray. Tristan is worried that he might be dead too.

"Joey, please," he hisses. "Joey, I'm right here. You have to see me. You just _have to_. Please. I love you. I love you, please, dear god, I'm here!"

He doesn't care if he just slips through like he did with his parents. Tristan kisses him anyways. He needs this. He needs the humanity of it. He thinks of cigarettes and fries and Old Spice deodorant and _hopes_.

When he pulls away, Joey's eyes are closed. Tears are running down his face and there's a large book in his arms that he's holding to his chest. Serenity places a hand on his shoulder and murmurs something softly, sadly. Joey looks at her and starts to cry in the crook of her neck.

He gets up, backing up straight through the people in the row behind him. Joey…god, Joey. He's dying. He actually looks like he's dying. And it's killing him to watch it.

His body is lowered into the ground, just like the rest of the students who perished in that goddamn banquet hall. Tristan watches as his family walks away very slowly and can't do anything but stand there. He turns back to Joey and tries to get him to see him again.

And then something very odd happens. The freak shows up, literally out of nowhere. Except this time, he's different. The freak seems to hum with a comforting red glow. It's warm, blissful, even trusting. He feels safe in the guy's presence and, for the death of him, can't figure out why.

There's an odd girl standing behind him that gives off the same sort of aura. He wonders what the hell is going on.

Tea turns to the freak, hurriedly asking what the hell he's doing here. Apparently, he can't be seen because people are talking about him. Tristan frowned, but ignored him. He returns to Joey, hands slipping through his shoulders where he attempts to grab at him.

And then he hears the freak say, "Do you want to see him again? 'Cause he's right there, trying to get you to talk to him."

Tristan freezes and then slowly turns to look at the guy. He sees red eyes that are staring right back at him and his unbeating heart jumps in his chest.

"You can see me?"

"Of course I can see you, Tristan. I'm a Necromancer. I've always been able to see the dead," he answers and, for some reason, Tristan doesn't question it. He _understands_, though he can't understand why he does. He sees salvation and a way out and he wants to take it.

"He's right in front of you," he turns to Joey. "Do you want to speak with him? Remember, this is going to be the last time. Your guilt is holding him here and it's hurting him. This will be the only time you can say good-bye. Don't waste it."

Joey looks straight at Tristan, even though he can't see him. He agrees.

"How about you, Tristan? I'm going to let you possess me - that is, if you want to talk in the first place."

He doesn't even know why the freak is even asking. He needs this so bad, he can barely stand it. But he gives his consent regardless and then he _feels_.

The freak's aura expands, enveloping Tristan almost gently. He is tugged and pulled towards the guy's body and then _inside of him_. He feels hair growing backwards into his skull, changing colour as his bones creak and grow upwards. He feels the freaks body changing to accommodate him and then opens his eyes.

"Is it really you?" Joey steps forward, almost afraid to touch.

"Yeah. It's me," and he can't really believe it. He can see the red string that attaches him to the freak – Bakura, his name is Bakura and he'll never forget him for this chance – and keeps him alive.

"it wasn't just messing around to me," Joey says suddenly, desperately. "It stopped being that a long time ago."

"I know, you idiot. I guess we're out of the closet now," it's kind of ironic, considering what they were planning to telling their friends that night. Joey did it all by himself. He didn't need him to stand beside him and hold his hand through the process. Tristan cracks a smile. He's _proud_.

Duke tells him that they wouldn't have cared. He wonders if its more for Joey's sake than his own, but he appreciates the effort. Then Miho speaks, saying that she'd like him and he can't help up feel sorry for her. But he sees the strength and character in that girl's eyes and mentally asks her to _take care of Joey for him because he's not going to be around anymore, oh god, this hurts_.

He accepts it. He's dead. He's gone. He doesn't belong here anymore. Tristan looks at Joey and realizes that this is it. He doesn't want the guy to be left pinning over him for the rest of his life. That thought reminds him far too much of orange bottles of pills and scars on Joey's wrists. Tristan wants him to move on, to find someone that will make him happy. It's the worst kind of heartbreak, but it's the right thing to do.

And then, just as Tristan starts wondering what is supposed to happen (is there going to be a bright light from above or simply comforting darkness?), Joey kisses him. It's desperate and needing, with more emotion in it than anything Tristan has ever felt before. And he thinks that while he might not be Joey's last, he certainly is his own.

Joey pulls back and looks him dead in the eye. He's going to die looking into those eyes.

"I love you, Tristan," he says. He clutches his sleeve in a vice grip chokes back a sob.

"I love you, too, Joey."

And then Bakura's red aura surrounds him. His eyes shut as fire erupts around him and he is pulled away, into a void that is neither hell or heaven or anything in between. Tristan has a brief moment where he remembers everything – he sees lighters and Terminator movies and support beams and street lamps. He remembers every kiss, every moment where Joey's arms were around him. He remembers the gapping maw of warmth and lightheadedness that is love and smiles.

And then, he is tugged away again. He flies towards the light in the darkness at breakneck speed.

And then –

**We are one. We are many. We are humanity and life and the world.**

**And, most of all, we are love.**

"'_You love me. Real or not real?'  
>I tell him, 'Real.'"<br>- Suxanne Collins_, Mockingjay

* * *

><p><strong>Hey guys!<strong>

**I'd like to thank Aqua girl 007 and InsanityByDefinition for their reviews on the last chapter.**

**So after that one drabble in the last story, I've had Joey and Tristan on the brain. While they were outed as being together in the very last chapter of The First Year, I'd always known that there were things going on behind the scenes between the two of them. Bakura might not have seen it or, at the very least, understood what he was seeing, but it was definitely there.**

**Addiction has had a large influence on the members of the Wheeler family. Both of their parents were literal addicts, though the children are more metaphorical. Serenity is 'addicted' to sight and, more specifically, colour and fears going back into darkness. Joey, on the other hand, is being portrayed in this story as a recovering drug user.**

**His cover is his addiction - the idea that he portrays for the sack of keeping up appearances. Tristan treats him half the time like a lover and the other half like an amateur therapist. He's trying to make Joey _better_, diagnosing why he needed to have his cover in the first place and working him so that he could see that it was alright to live without it. And it kind of works. We see it drop from time to time, he has relapses and moments where he struggles with it all, and it makes him seem so much more human.**

**Tristan changed Joey. When he shows up again in The Third Year, he will be different. We'll be seeing what I refer to as the real Joey. The cover is gone. We'll see the side of him that would make Serenity see him as a hero, that would make Joseph proud to call him son, and make Tristan fall in love with him. Bakura only saw Joey's mask in The First Year and it's about time that changed.**

**Until next time,**

**AlcatrazOutpatient**


	22. In Which Bakura Is A GirlAgain

**The Others: Odd Happenings**

**Disclaimer:** Yu-gi-oh! Duel Monsters is owned by Kazuki Takahashi, Studio Gallop, Nihon Ad Systems, and TV Tokyo. All names were changed to the characters of this fandom in order to protect the real people involved in the following incidents.

**Warning:** Alternate universe of _The Others: The First Year_. Features Female!Bakura, Male!Atem, Male!Amane, Female!Magic, and non regular-Others!canon pairings. Also contains misandry, sexual assault, binging, self-hatred, partial nudity, and character death.

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><p><strong>Page Twenty-Two: In Which Bakura Is A Girl...Again<strong>

Alternate Title: In Which Bakura Learns To Be Comfortable With Exactly Who She Is And What's Happened To Her

"_One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman."  
>- Simone de Beauvoir, <em>The Second Sex

Duke Devlin was a dream, a silly girlhood dream, that she held close to her for years. He was Bakura's last chance at a prince charming, someone who'd sweep her off her feet and take her away from the heavy, suffocating darkness of the world. Duke is the last time she dares to believe in fairy tales.

She wants him because all of the other girls want him - it gives Bakura a way to fit in, even if no one ever talks to her. It gives her common ground in this foreign land, after everything familiar had been ripped so cruelly away from her. So she imagines and pretends and wishes herself into a relationship that isn't real and is only in her head. At night, Bakura pretends that her pillow is his chest and that she falls asleep listening to his heart beat.

Her crush on him is hardly sexual - in fact, she hardly thinks about kissing him or anything physical at all. She just wants contact, someone to say something nice to her. That's it. That's all. So when the darkness gets too binding or she feels far too lonely, Bakura looks at him out of the corner of her eye and pretends that that dazzling smile is meant for her.

It has nothing to do with the fact that her brother, Amane, hangs out with Duke all the time or that the two of them look strikingly similar to one another.

But then Serenity fucking Wheeler comes into the picture and it feels like a slap to the face. Here was this girl, who's not overly pretty, not overly special, not overly anything, and Duke is utterly enamored. Bakura watches as he forgets to breathe in Serenity's presence and rage coils in her chest. She doesn't know who she's more mad at: Duke or Serenity but she knows that one of them, if not both, is responsible for utterly ruining her fantasy world. Her fingers seem to numb as the darkness descends upon her once more.

And then The Incident happens. Duke and Tea knock her out and tie her to a pole in her underwear. She's never been more terrified in her entire life because every breeze through the trees that night is a potential rapist and she fights the chloroform with all her might. She can't fall asleep. She doesn't dare fall asleep. She...can't...

She wakes up to the bright light of a torch and a dark hooded figure looming over her. There's something sharp and gleaming in the man's hands and Bakura would scream, but there's a piece of duct tape over her mouth. She squirms and writhes and tries to get away because, no, she refuses to let this happen. She's not going to let this happen to her.

What is left of the girl that existed in the time before Amane's abandonment dies when then tape gives. Bakura launches herself at the hooded man, thin fingers wrapping around his throat as she forces him back onto the ground, determined to choke the life right out of him and -

It's Amane. He looks up at her with wide, surprised eyes and it's like he doesn't even recognize her. Bakura, for once tiny moment, considers tightening her grip.

But instead she runs. Runs for her room. Runs for her santuary. Runs and screams and hating herself for daring to have such an idiotic weakness. Bakura swears never to let someone get that close to her ever again.

When she works up the nerve to return to school, she's met with the most disgusting remarks about her body that she's ever heard. The men leer and catcall and make gestures with their tongues and their fingers. Several times during that day, she is pinned up against a wall or the lockers by a boy she doesn't know and has to fight her way free, but not before he tries to feel her up. They try to undue her bra through her shirt and call her a crazy, uptight bitch when she throws a haymaker at their face.

But Bakura refuses to cry. Her tears all dried up years ago in front of a washroom sink filled with long chunks of her silver hair. She is a knife, razor sharp and impossible to approach without getting cut.

But then, later that day, as she stares at such a blade and wonders just how long it would take for someone to notice her dead body - wonders what it would feel like to have that edge pass through the skin of her wrists - Duke fucking Devlin walks into the girl's change room, completely ignoring the stupid stick figure of someone in a dress. He stalks into the stall she's crouching in and sees the bruises on her wrists. He sees the split lip and the dislocated shoulder and fractured left foot.

"What do you want, Devlin?" Bakura asks calmly, the fantasy in her head changing to wondering what his face would look like if she took that knife and drove it through his chest.

He stares at her, not saying a word. Her red eyes bore into his soul, judging and hating him with all of her being. Devlin's throat bobs as he swallows.

"Just...go home, okay," he whispers, unable to hold her gaze and looking off to the side. She blinks, expecting to feel something, anything, but there's nothing. She dead inside. She's a numb as the first time she realized that Duke was head-over-heels in love with perfect, little Serenity fucking Wheeler. The fantasy is gone.

So Bakura gets up, walks up to him and holds the blade of the knife up to Duke's neck. Her eyes follows it's path as she traces the line of his jugular all the way down to the collar of his stupid designer shirt. He's rooted to the floor, unable to move out of fear.

Huh, Bakura thinks. So this was the only way that he would ever be breathless for her.

She smirks and presses down just enough to leave a red line on his throat before leaving the change room. Instead of coming to school for the next few days, she picks up a few shifts at the thrift store she works at because her job will help take her mind off of the physical pain of her half healed foot and shoulder. A heavy jacket that is intended for a man one hundred and fifty pounds larger than her comes in amongst the donations. Bakura smuggles it home, just as she's done with the rest of the clothing she owns, a wears it over her body, shielding it from the leering eyes of men.

They're disgusting pigs, she tells herself. And she's better off without them.

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><p>During her first week at Atlantis, Bakura gains ten pounds. While most girls would be freaking out and frantically going on diets, she couldn't be happier. For once, her stomach doesn't feel like it's cannibalizing itself in order to stay alive. But she keeps her portions small so that, unlike her first night there, she doesn't spend it heaving into the toilet because she ate too much.<p>

She doesn't know how to take Marik and how he'd held her hair back that night. He's her roommate and sponsor, but he's a fucking man and she can't really trust him at all. It doesn't matter how nice he seemed, it was probably all just a front to get her to let her guard down. Men are all the same and they'll disappoint her at the end of the day.

But if there's anything good to come out of her having to associate with him, it's that Bakura meets Mana and Mai. They're like the big sisters that she never got to have. They make her feel welcome in a way that she's never been able to before. They make her forget that she's ugly, that her hair is stupid, that she's too boney and thin and disgusting looking. It gives Bakura a bit of hope that maybe she too can be beautiful.

And then, just as she's about to leave, Marik asks her the question, "Who did this to you?"

At first she has no idea what he's talking about, so he continues, asking who hurt her so bad that she could never trust men again. He vows to actually come back to her home town and kick their asses to fucking Neptune because something must have happened and it's shouldn't have. Bakura just stares at him like she's never seen him before.

She doesn't dare squirm, doesn't dare hope that she's found someone with a y chromosome that won't end up turning on her. But Marik actually seems sincere and the Ward can't effect him so maybe...just maybe she could give him the benefit of the doubt.

Bakura decides, against her better judgement, that she should give him a chance.

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><p>Atem scares the ever loving shit out of her. The first time he talks to her, she does nothing more then stare wide eyed at him with her jaw flapping in the wind. During their first class, he spends the first half just attempting to get Bakura to talk to him and not look at him like he's some kind of celebrity. It is quite possibly the most embarrassing moment of her entire life.<p>

She spends the other half completely avoiding looking him in the eye. In fact, she looks pretty much anywhere except the spot where he resides. It annoys him, so just before Bakura heads back to her room, he grabs her by the wrist.

Her blood runs cold for a moment, remembering the hinges of locker doors pressing into her back and the suffocating feeling of Demetrius Trudge leaning over her, but instead Atem brings her hand up to rest against his throat. Bakura feels the warmth of his body against the pads of her fingers and the steady thump-thump of his pulse.

"I'm human, Bakura," he tells her, maroon eyes full of a warmth she doesn't all understand. "I don't know what you've heard, but I'm as human as you are."

But it's not his humanity that had made her so terrified of him. No instead, it was the fact that he was there at all.

"You're real," she whispers, astounded by the impossible being in front of her that had walked out of her dreams.

"I'm real," he repeats. Bakura glances up and, this time, holds his gaze.

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><p>More than anyone in the world, Bakura hates her brother's girlfriend. Tea Gardner is quite possibly the worst thing humanity has ever come up with in the history of ever. The girl seems to exist to make her life a living hell. There's no reason for her to be like this, because it's so beyond anything that the Ward could ever come up with. But Tea is anyways and Bakura has just learned to put up with her shit over the years.<p>

This time, however, she goes too far.

Bakura sews. It's a hobby she picked up after working in the thrift store for so long. She mends the clothes that come in if they have holes in them. It's calming and passes the time. She loves it because it feels like she's making improvements on the world for once.

There's a sundress that came in on the weekend. It's not something that she'd ever wear in public, but she secrets it home anyways because sometimes Bakura likes to put on pretty things when no one is looking. It's purple, with spaghetti straps and detailed embroidery around the bottom. The zipper isn't exactly functional, so she replaces it with one from the sewing box at home.

It fits Bakura like a dream, slipping over her form like water. She twirls and spins around her room, bare feet ghosting over the hardwood floor. She looks at her hand and sees the polish that Mai had painted onto her nails a month before and wonders what it would be like to look pretty like her. Bakura doesn't know how to put on make up or even braid her hair, but maybe Mai could show her.

But the next morning when she wakes up, the dress is gone. Bakura searches everywhere for it, but it's no where to be found. She doesn't cry - her tears dried up years ago - but as she walks to school, she finds it hard to swallow due to the large lump that has taken residence in her throat. It's during lunch period that she realizes what happened.

Tea sits on her brother's lap on the table across the cafeteria, dressed in a flowing purple dress that Bakura knows is her's. It's the zipper. She'd know her own needle work anywhere. She remembers that that stupid fucking bitch had stayed the night and curses herself for forgetting to lock the door to the room. And Tea sits there, laughing and kissing Amane and looking so fucking beautiful in Bakura's dress. And she hates everything.

Tea looks at her just then and smirks. Bakura grinds her teeth together and the light above the girl's head explodes. The sparks catch on the fabric of the dress and by the time that Tea's able to put out the small fire, it's ruined beyond repair. Bakura gets up and doesn't look back. She should know better by now. She's never going to be pretty. She might as well just stop trying.

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><p>Somewhere, deep down, she's always known that Amane loves her. Even after he left her when they were eleven, pushing her away from him mid-dance and staring at her like she was a monster, she's known. She can't explain it. It just is.<p>

He looks at her like Atem looks at her in her dreams. And she knows exactly what Atem wanted from the first her back then. She wonders if he still does. She remembers the kiss from moments before, the one that took her breath away and made her wonder if this is what all the love songs were talking about, and thinks that maybe he did.

But as Bakura walks home, lips still tingling from Atem's kiss, her thoughts return to her her brother. She remembers the terror that flowed through her veins when she found him on the business end of Bandit Keith's gun just outside of Duke's home. She thinks that if she'd reacted a split second too late, Amane would be dead and gone and that, despite everything, she'd never be able to forgive herself. Because as much as Amane loves her when he shouldn't, Bakura loves him just as much.

She can't hate herself for loving him anymore. She just can't. Not when she nearly just lost him like that. It's not a weakness. It's something stronger than anything she's ever known. She's killed for him and, fuck the world, she'll do it all over again if she needs to.

Bakura sees him first, as she turns down the road that has her family's house on it. Amane sits on the front steps, face in his hands. His form is illuminated by nothing more than the street lamp that hangs over their property, but she can see him shaking from where she stands. Bakura breaks out into a jog that turns into a run that cumulates in her sprinting to the base of their driveway.

Amane looks up, staring at her like she's a ghost. He whispers "Ryou?" under his breath before saying it a little louder. She nods in response and he let's out a laugh that sounds like it's been through a shredder.

They're polar opposites. Seeing him like this, right now, somehow makes it all the more clear. Black hair to white, male to female. His clothes are bright and fit him like they we made for him. Her's are practically falling off, they're so old. He's cool and smart and far too pretty for a man and she's ugly and stupid and the last person to be picked in gym class. She has magic and he doesn't.

But as he stands up and crosses their lawn in four easy steps, she wonders if there is more to their dichotomy. Because Amane crushes her against him like he's trying to meld them together and she doesn't think he'll ever let her go. He mumbles against her shoulder, saying things that she thinks that he's never allowed himself to admit aloud. Amane tells her that he loves her, that he's so, so sorry, that he was scared beyond anything in his life and that he's sorry, again, he's sorry. He'll never forgive himself for leaving. He loves her, he loves her, and, god, she is gorgeous and alive. She's alive.

Bakura knows that Amane is just another man and that he's the one that has hurt her more than any of the others. She knows this just like she knows that he loves her. But when her brother holds her face in between his hands and looks at her like she's a miracle, she learns that she is also capable of forgiveness as well.

For the first time in six years, Bakura becomes Ryou. Ryou, the girl with long hair who dreamed in fairy tales. And she cries.

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><p>Seeing Magic for the first time is a punch to the gut. It isn't even her. It's just a picture on Amane's phone from their date-thing' last week and it feels like everything Bakura has ever known is coming crashing down around her ears. Magic is a carbon copy of her, right down to their facial structure and their long, spidery fingers. And yet, despite it all, the walking embodiment of the power she wields is beautiful.<p>

It throws her for a total loop. She's known for her entire life that she's anything but attractive and yet here was proof that she might not be. She spends an hour in front of the mirror just staring at her reflection, trying to see it. What she finds surprises her.

Bakura knows that she's a lot healthier now that she's going to Atlantis, except now she can really see the true extent of it all. She's filled out a bit; gone are the days where she could count her ribs through her skin. Instead, she can see the curve of her hips and the swell of her breasts. She doesn't think that she'll ever have the definition that Mai has on her arms, but she's lean and there us a strength to her that wasn't there a year ago.

The dark circles under her eyes are gone, but then again, she's been getting a lot more sleep than she had been before. Her hair isn't as greasy, though she hands that off to Mai and her miracle shampoo that the girl has introduced her to. Bakura piles it on top of her head and looks at the length of her neck. She remembers waking up to find Atem snuggled up against her, his warm breath flowing over the skin her, and an involuntary shiver runs down her spine. She never imagined waking up next to a man before that day and now she wonders why the hell she'd ever thought it would be frightening.

She needs to get that crush under control.

She finds Mana after she gets dressed and asks if they can go shopping together. The girl stares at her like she's grown a second head (because, let's face it, Bakura has never been one for this sort of thing), but then calls for Mai and they somehow end up in a mall half an hour later.

Bakura blows through a pretty big chunk of her savings that day, but she'd like to think it was worth it. She plans on getting only a pair of jeans and a couple t-shirts, and she does. They're nicer than anything she owns and she likes how they look on her, but then Mai insists on underwear and a bottle of nail polish in the same colour of red as her eyes and she can't find it in herself to say no.

Then she sees the dress. Prom is around the corner at Domino High and she's seen a few people getting asked in some grandiose fashion and she wonders if she'll ever get something like that. Bakura imagines Atem asking her to go in that voice of his and tries to fight down the blush that creeps it's way onto her face. But she dismisses it quickly because he probably has more things to do than be her date.

The dress she sees is red - the same colour as the nail polish, as her eyes. It's long and backless and looks like it's made of silk and so far out of her price range that it's stupid. There's no guarantee that she'll even be going to prom and she's never worn anything like that at all. But she wants it.

Bakura has no idea what convinces her to smuggle it out of the store (and, of course, the heals that go with it), but she does because she really does love it. Now all she needs is a date and she'll have enough of an excuse for herself to get tickets.

The answer to that pops into her head the moment she comes out of the elevator and sees Rex and Weevil in the corridor, no doubt attempting to set up one of their infamous pranks that is going to drive poor Strings up the wall. Bakura thinks that, maybe, she's more than a little bit insane, but she decides not to give a fuck when she asks them, "Hey, you guys wanna go to prom with me?"

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><p>She's thankful for the little extra back up when shit goes down at prom. Bakura doesn't think she's ever felt safer with Atem at her back, Rex and Weevil at her sides. But with people injured, Tea lying dead on the ground, Amane with a shattered kneecap, and a bomb ready to go off, safe doesn't exactly go a long way.<p>

And then the four of them get separated and she is left in control of a ragtag group of teenagers that are stranded in the middle of a ghost town, looking for safety. Bakura doesn't dare heal Amane's leg out of fear of having to stop halfway and leaving him fucked up for the rest of his life. She can see him pray under his breath for his divine girlfriend to come save them all and she wishes for that, too, because damn it, do they ever need help.

And then the Gigas happens. Amane is practically useless and Tristan busts his fair share of ribs trying to keep that monster from killing her brother stone cold dead. Bakura swears that, if they ever get out of this alive, she'll buy him enough of those those stupid cigarettes that he loves that he'll choke on them. Serenity fucking Wheeler shows that she has a particularly vicious streak in her when Duke nearly gets clobbered by the things massive meaty fists. The girl blows open the Gigas's chest with one of the rocket launchers that they found in the truck they used. That gives Bakura an opening to get in and knife the fucker right in the shiny pentagram to take it down.

They hole up in a theatre for a little bit before she realizes that the thing has come back to life. She tells Duke to look after them all while she goes off to fight it on her own. Bakura looks right at her brother, who is fighting against his broken leg and both Tristan and Joey to get to her, calling for her to come back to him, he loves her, please, just come back! But she doesn't and she can't because he's her Amane and she will fight and kill for him. And aparently, she'll die for him as well. Die for him like Tea did.

Right before she jumps down from the second floor of the theatre, Bakura thinks of Atem and wonders if she'd be proud of her. She thinks of him and the feel of his mouth against he's and that it's all been worth it, even if this is all that will ever come out of the two of them.

Bakura knows, in that moment, that she is the most beautiful woman on the face of the earth. Fuck anyone who says otherwise.

"_One life is all we have and we live it as we believe in living it. But to sacrifice who you are and to live without belief, that is a fate more terrible than dying."  
>- Joan of Arc<em>

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><p><strong>Hello guys!<strong>

**I'd like to thank those who reviewed for the last chapter: InsanityByDefinition and ilovemanicures.**

**So this has been on my desktop for a while. It was half done until I picked it up this morning, so I thought I'd just finish it off and post it here before I moved on to other projects.**

**I really love Female!Bakura. She's so different and yet so similar to her male counterpart. The fact that they're differences stem from a simple flip of sex is astounding to me. So much can change just by making a male character female or a female character male. Male!Amane is really fun to work with, too. The idea of him being Tea's boyfriend just seems to make sense considering that Tea is bi-curious and has expressed slight interest in Female!Amane before. Tea becomes a completely different animal here; I see her as more of Female!Bakura's main Normal antagonist instead of Joey. Joey, in my mind, has a line he won't cross and that line includes hitting girls.**

**I'd love to dive deeper into her world, but the fact that I'd have to revamp my a good chunk plotline for her is a bit taxing. It's a bit sad because Female!Bakura is such an interesting character. But at the same time, I have Male!Bakura to keep me and my mind company. And, man, he's been going looking for trouble lately.**

**Until next time,**

**AlcatrazOutpatient**


	23. Prologue

**The God: The Forgotten World**

**Disclaimer:** _Yu-gi-oh! Duel Monsters _is owned by Kazuki Takahashi, Studio Gallop, Nihon Ad Systems, and TV Tokyo. All the below accounts have no way of been authenticated for their accuracy.

**Warning:** Self-Insert, spoilers to the _The Others_ series

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><p><strong>Page Twenty-Three: Prologue<strong>

One day, many years from now, there will be a man. He will be old, hunched over and leaning on a cane. His coat will be long, falling past his knees, and his clothing will be worn and well loved. His hair will be the same bone-white that it has been for all of his lives.

He will be standing before a monument, dedicated to those that fell during the Final War. His eyes, red as freshly spilled blood, will carry with them a weight of several lifetimes of death. He will sigh, thin fingers tightening around his cane, and look into the sky. It will be a cold, cloudy September morning and the air will smell of fallen leaves and rain.

Ryou Bakura will be eighty two years old. Atem will have passed away the day before. Old age, the doctors would tell him. _Old age_ got her in the end. Bakura will smile sadly. How ironic.

How fitting.

So he will stand and he will sigh and he will gaze upon the names of those who died for freedom. And he will see the world as it is, no more and no less.

Then, the air beside him will glow softly and another man will step from it. He, too, will be old, but he will walk with the grace of someone much younger. Bakura will turn to him and frown.

"Give me some peace," he will look away, unable to keep the man's gaze. "And drop that form. You keep that up for my sister's sake, not mine – you eternally youthful bastard."

And yet, despite Bakura's words, there will be no malice, no hatred. All that will be there is exhaustion. Atem will be dead and he, for the first time in over twelve hundred years, will have to live with life knowing that he will not be seeing her again for a long time.

The man beside Bakura will shift, wrinkles and age spots fading, and then suddenly appear as nothing more than a young man. He will straighten his white shirt and tap the toes of his bare feet against the earth. Then the two of them will stand and stare at the monument, mourning in silence for the life of a woman held dear to both of them.

Later that day will find them in a coffee shop. Bakura will ease himself into his chair, wincing as old scars tug at his flesh. His cane will hang against the back of his chair. The young man will sit in front of him, hands clasped in front of him on the table.

"What do you want, Magic?" Bakura will finally ask.

"**Can't we make a social call?"** Magic will smirk slightly, **"You are our brother-in-law, after all. You're in pain and we wish to lend our support."**

"Perhaps that is your intension, just this once. But that doesn't change the fact that you need something done," Bakura will lean back in his chair.

Magic will study him for a moment, analyzing his every move, his every blink. And then he will nod slowly and produce a leather bound novel from thin air. Bakura will snort.

"Who's Book is that?" Then his grin will drop suddenly, "If that is Atem's, I'll kill you."

"**It's ours,"** Magic will say suddenly. Bakura's eyes will pop.

"You have one of those…?"

"**Well, as much as your 'Others Series' is your Life Book."**

Bakura will roll his eyes, "Isn't it a little late to be sending that girl manuscripts, asking her to type out our words, our stories, years before they happen?"

Magic will say nothing for a moment and then pin him with his changing eyes, **"You've never met her, have you?"**

"No."

"**Never sought her out? Weren't you ever curious?"**

"She knew my life more than I did. Just as she knew my sister's, my friends. Atem's," Bakura will stare at his hands. "She knew them all before it all happened, even though she was no Seer. I find it…eerie."

Magic will laugh, **"After everything, you find a teenage girl from Canada eerie?"**

"What has the girl got to do with anything?" Bakura's voice will take on a tone of annoyance.

"**We need you to give this to her,"** he will push the Book across the table.

"Why not go yourself? You've done it hundreds of times before, will each individual chapter I wrote. And then again when Amane started to write. And again with the others until she began to write their stories on her own because our lives burrowed into her mind and she couldn't stop thinking about us!"

"**Exactly!"** Magic will snap, **"Exactly! Don't you see!"**

"No, you moron!"

The God will groan into his hand, **"You and Atem – your original Life Codes are useless. You were both supposed to die, hand-in-hand, in your fifties in a hut on the coastline of the Yucatan surrounded by your pack of children. Clearly that didn't happen."**

Bakura will bite his life, "Clearly."

"**That's our point! Your Life Code says that, but it didn't happen! You and Atem tore destiny apart the day you two became what you are. We don't know what will happen next. We don't know when you'll see her again," **Magic's eyes will soften as a small smile will appear on his face. **"But she will."**

Bakura will freeze, face contorting in anguish. Finally, he will force out, "If this is some kind of joke – "

"**We would never joke about something like this."**

Bakura will cover his mouth with a hand and stay very still for a few minutes. Then, he will reach forward and lightly finger the leather binding of the Book.

"What's this for then?" He will rasp.

"**An excuse. The girl doesn't need to publish it. We wish for her to keep it, to read it. She, of all people, deserves to know our past,"** Magic will answer. **"Have you read any of her work?"**

"I wrote most of 'her work'," he will laugh, but then stop. "I've read what Amane wrote. And Duke's. And Serenity's. And the others. But what she did on her own…no. Not that. It's far to accurate. Far to eerie."

Magic will snort, **"You're better than us, in that aspect. We haven't read anything."**

"But you're…well, you. Don't you just know it instinctively?"

"**She is…blocked from us. We set it up the first time you sent her a chapter."**

Bakura will snort, "Figures. But…she will know?"

"**IF anyone could know, it would be her,"** Magic will answer.

"Then do it."

Blackness will overtake him, curling around Bakura's body in a way that will be so close to death that it frightened him. It will tug at his bones and pull as his blood. His soul will scream and sing at the same time before finally righting itself.

And he will be standing in a university dorm room in the dead of night, sixty-nine years in the past.

The girl will be young, but then again, everyone will look young to Bakura when he's eighty-two years old. She will be blonde, pale will blue eyes. She will be wearing blue pajama pants with snowflakes on them and a dark gray hoodie that will hide her form in its heavy folds. She will stare out the window blankly, her lips twitching with words not voiced.

A high-pitched laugh will filter in through the thin walls of the room. A shadow will ghost over her face, as she turns back to her laptop.

Then she will notice him, turning sharply towards him. Something will spark in her eyes – something that wasn't there before – and then they will widen.

Bakura will take a step back, "I-I'm not sure if you recognize me…"

"Of course, I know who you are," the girl will breathe those words in a tone akin to that of worship. "Bakura. Ryou Bakura," she will let out a choking gasp. "You're _real_."

Bakura will shuffle, his hands gripping his cane. Immediately, the girl will shoot to her feet, "Here. Sit down."

"No, really. It's fine –"

"Your hip is probably bothering you from that fall you took down the stairs. You should sit," and will that, the girl will guide him over and sit him on the chair. "Be careful about leaning too far back in that thing. It's tippy."

"How far along are you?" He will ask.

"Close to the end of _The First Year_," she will answer, pulling a chair away from the other desk in the room. "I'm typing up Chapter 29 now. How is Dark God these days?"

"You already know the answer to that, if you know about the fall," he will point out.

"It doesn't really work like that. I get your lives in flashes, not all at once. And not a lot from beyond the end of the war," she will shrug.

"He's…manageable," he will answer.

The girl will nod, "That's good, I guess. He was always an interesting man."

Bakura, not knowing what to say to _that_, will hold out Magic's Life Book, "He wanted you to have this."

The girl will frown, hands reaching for it and cradling it with care. Her voice will shake as she whispers, "Is this…what I think it is?"

"He said that you, of all people, deserved to know the truth."

He will watch as something catches in her throat. The girl's eyes will begin to water, but she will brush them away before they fall.

"Thank you," she will breathe.

Bakura will hesitate, unable to understand how to bring up his question. The girl will stand, turning towards the bunk beds in the corner, and hide Magic's Book in the sheets of he upper one. She will not put it on the shelves beside him, he will notice. She will not put it where others could touch it. He will watch as the girl's face darkens once more as conversation from outside the room makes its way inside. Her fingers will grip the ladder until her knuckles turn white.

"If I may ask, where are you in the grand scheme of things?" She will retake her seat, bare toes curling in the carpet weave. "I mean, it's pretty obvious that you're not still writing. And I'm pretty sure Mokuba's presidency is long over. So when?"

Bakura will chuckle, remembering Mokuba Kaiba and the movement he lead, "They tried to have him elected for a fourth term."

"I know," the girl will grin. "Tricky bastard, ain't he?"

"Very," he will chuckle before growing somber. "He died, five years back."

"Five years? Then…" she will gasp. "Atem."

So she did know. Bakura will look at this feet, jaw clenched together. But then her hands will slide towards his, fingers brushing over his wrists. Her skin will be firm, her knuckles holding pale scars from past fights. There will be a single brown freckle in the join of her thumb and forefinger. He will sigh at his own hands, still pale as ever, but now wrinkled and veined.

"How long ago did she pass?" The girl will ask.

"Yesterday," and it will take everything he has to get the truth out of him.

"You know that you'll see her again," the girl will smile sadly.

"I know. But how long? It took me decades to find Leon. How long for her? I'm an old man now. My abilities are not as they once were," Bakura will collapse in on himself. "I can't _not know_."

The girl will nod, slowly and sadly. And then she will take a deep breath, "Okay. _Okay_. I'll tell you. But you won't like it."

"I don't care."

"Okay. The next time you'll see her is on the other side."

Bakura will take it well, considering. He will ask, "How long will that be?"

"Ten years. Almost to the day."

His face will harden and his eyes will close. He will have been given a countdown – days and hours and minutes ticking away until the end of his life. And then, within him, the girl will see the fire of the man in the words that he sent her.

So long ago for him. All too soon for her.

"Thank you," Bakura will whisper.

"It's the least I can do, after all that you and your friends have done for me," the girl will smile softly. "This," she will not towards her laptop, "is what keeps me going most days."

"But…your mind – "

"Is full of wonder. Of strength and perseverance. Of the ability to stand up and say 'no'. To overcome. To be _beyond_ that which wants to hold you back," she will look at the door for a moment before turning back to him. "Bakura, you taught me love. You taught me life. You're the best thing that ever happened to me."

The girl will reach over Bakura's shoulder to grab her laptop. She will frantically tap the keys and then turn the device so that he will be able to see the screen.

"Look," she will say. "_The Others_ has had hundreds of views across the globe in the last month alone. People are reading it. People are _understanding_. And when the time comes, they will be ready. It's reaching people. Your book is doing its job and I'm doing mine."

Bakura will look at the girl just then – really look at her and see her for the first time. She will be tired, blue eyes surrounded by crow's feet and dark circles. Her hair will be tangled, oily, and lifeless. He will see the misery in her, from the grim line of her shoulders to the way she will flinch at the voices from beyond the wall. She will not be beautiful – but then again, depression and paranoia rarely will be. But she will have been once and will again one day, when the weight will lifted off of her and she will be able to wake up to sunny skies once more.

And Bakura will see this and know that the girl still has a spark in her soul. She will keep it alight with their words and the faceless friends she has across the world. He will look at her and think, _my god_, she is alive. My god, she is _human_.

The knob of the door will jerk behind them. It will be locked and a shout will come from the other side, yelling for her to open up. As fists pound against the wood, the girl's eyes will close and her fingers clench. He must return to her reality and her darkness. And he must return to his.

No goodbyes will be exchanged between them, but Bakura will hold the girl close and she will kiss his cheek. He will think that, perhaps, she is in love with him – the boy that he was so long ago and will not be again. The boy she will know but never meet. Maybe, she is in love with them all: Atem, Mai, Duke, Marik, Mana, Serenity, Amane, Joey, Tea, the Kaibas, Kisara, and all of the others. Maybe this girl loved Dartz and the Leviathan, too. Maybe, this girl has loved _her_ as well.

Then he will fade, back into his time and world. Bakura will feel the blackness and his singing, screaming blood and bones. And he will know death and life and knows that he will find Atem again

When the world rights itself again, Magic will sit in front of him in that coffee shop and Bakura will smile and laugh and tell his brother-in-law everything. And in return, the God will tell him about the girl from Canada with blonde hair and blue eyes, who lived and _survived_ the war. About how she never forgot him. About how she never, ever stopped writing.

And for the first time since the death of the Immortal Mortal, the Shattered Soul will feel whole.

* * *

><p><strong>As promised, I'm posting again tonight.<strong>

**I'd like to thank all those who reviewed for the last chapter: zukofan2005, InsanityByDefinition, Aqua girl 007, and as well as the single anonymous reviewer.**

**And now I can officially cross 'Self-Insert' off of the long list that is my Fanfiction Cliches Bucket List. Why the hell not, right?**

**So to break the forth wall a bit, Bakura here is from the year 2081 and travelled back in time to 2012 to meet an eighteen year old me in about February or March. If you guys read the disclaimers, you can see that I've kind of made it seem like the events of The Others are real. A few people have asked about it and I jokingly respond that I'm 'totally not receiving manuscripts from a man several years in the future about the events that have yet to occur'. So I guess you could say that there is a me in The Others universe. Hey, if J.K. Rowling can do it, so can I._  
><em>**

**But anyways, 2012 was a pretty tough year for me mentally, so that's why the person Bakura meets isn't exactly the healthiest of individuals. Yet, it was around that time where I got the idea for Forgotten World, which will be about the original War of the Orichalcos that took place between humans and the Ancients on Mu. I just remember answering a review while wearing my snowflake pyjamas and it just came to me. To be honest, this was how I viewed starting the story - with Others-Series!me getting the Book. Who knows? I might still use it. It seems like it would work a little.**

**Besides, Old!Bakura needs a hug. After everything I've put that man through, the least I could do is give him a little bit of peace. He and Atem have this incredible dynamic with each other in their old age. They're a couple that make me think that, god, people can go through some terrible things, lose so much, and _still manage to stick together_. Here's a couple of people that were next supposed to be anything more than pawns and they turned out to be the most important people in the world. The idea of them just learning to live after the war is beautiful and heartbreaking all at the same time.**

**Bakura was always going to outlive Atem, in my head. It just seemed..._right._ Not happy, just right.**

**Until next time,**

**AlcatrazOutpatient**


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